


the recreation of Simon

by lucky01



Series: the recreation series [1]
Category: Harry Potter - Fandom, Witch - Fandom
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-04-27
Updated: 2017-06-06
Packaged: 2018-10-24 13:58:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 17
Words: 107,982
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10743102
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lucky01/pseuds/lucky01
Summary: Simon is trying to deal with a typical crush with the prettiest girl while trying to survive his family if thats what its called. Moving wasnt his favorite part of his school carreer but things are about to change for him and his life will nver be the same.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> im from South africa and our school system is different. so i know there arent any free classes and i will fix it eventually. this first chapters are just to get a basic feel, i wrote them when i was young so there are still alot of grammar issues i need to tend to.

Prologue  
Dawn approached at a steady pace, the rays of sun were still three hours away but the subtle illumination of light began creeping into the skies. In her sleep, her mind would have been oblivious and still at ease, but Lady Es stood awake.  
She had crossed the bridge between reality and the reality of dreams involuntarily earlier that morning. She appreciated the slow change in her surroundings, the quiet night air owned unique qualities that at any other given time she would have openly welcomed, but on this morning it brought a singular thought to her mind  
‘The calm before the storm’  
She looked up to the cause of her early wake. It’s true that the distant sunrays illuminated slightly over the entire night sky, but the dark curtain had a hole in it. The obstruction beaconed like a light and even the blind would see it.  
It’s the energy that the obstruction leaked in its passing that takes the true blame for waking the Lady from her slumber. She had sensed that specific energy the moment it entered her sensing range.  
Magical Energy.  
Her hands trembled slightly, the thing approaching would clearly not burn out in the atmosphere, if this approaching force had only been a meteor she could have easily taken care of it without hesitation simply by waving her hand, but this was no meteor.   
It began shining on the surroundings, light that didn’t belong to the sun or the moon; but instead belonged to the force now so close that Es had to shield her eyes from the vividness of it. It was coming for her and she knew it.   
From the waves of energy approaching she could sense even more from the entity: anger, danger and fierce power.  
She gasped; the terrible mass of emotion forced its hand around her throat like a snake. In her mind she saw the angel of death standing next to her, holding a sheet of paper and dully crossing out her name like it was of no importance that she; Lady Es: the most distinguished sorceress of her time would be accompanying him to the afterlife.   
The energy coursed to the earth and for the very first time Es wished that some other unfortunate individual would just walk up and take care of the problem. She looked around in the hope that her wish would be fulfilled.   
No such luck.   
The magically wrapped thing crashed to the ground, the force of it created a crater deep in the earth, surrounding trees were uprooted, others were stripped of their leaves and Lady Es was sent packing several feet back only to fall on her side and have the wind knocked out of her. The crash released magic into the surroundings, the undefined energy allowed the natural life to absorb it and in doing so gain new purpose.  
Es looked up from where she lay on the ground  
Still alive  
She still lived. She picked herself up, it was some effort, after all her years of fighting and saving the world from the forces of darkness her last battle had left scars.   
Es swore softly, looking around hoping that no ears had heard her though knowing that she stood alone in the forest with no other person around for miles save the cause of the crater.   
Her mind raced to her last fight, her defeat a shameful and horrifying one. A girl, barely older than seventeen took the first victory from Es, left her alive and stated that it would be a waste of time kill the veteran.   
The swear word that Es had whispered came back to her mind but she didn’t voice it.   
That bitch Es repeated over and over in her mind for this was the only plausible approach according to her standards.   
Es took note that the source of this magic differed greatly from the girl. The girl gave of fear and malevolence, unkindness and a natural darkness f the heart the likes of which Es had never been familiar with in her life.   
Quite frankly, the bitch is evil Es thought and had gone through it in her mind over and over. Nothing about the girl indicated that she once lived as an innocent who was misguided and corrupted by the darkness.  
No, Es knew that the girl was evil since her existence –saying birth would make the girl seem more human – and that the only way to finish her would be by ending her.   
Es took one step forward, the leaves felt cold against her feet, it made her body tingle slightly and that increased the fear in her own mind.  
I am going to die or lose a humiliating defeat and then a silent meaningless death. This isn’t what I envisioned when I was a teenager forcing all I could into my mind, not a pointless death.   
Es walked forward, preparing to face what lay in the center of the crater. She mentally prepared all the discs in her body, th9nking of how they would be able to assist her.   
She stopped her foot in midair, her eyes unfocused, her mouth slightly opened and all the cares and worries of that moment disappeared.   
She took no notice of the leaves floating around the crater, the gravity network of nature cancelled by this mass of energy. She took no notice of the leaves growing on the naked trees at an extreme growth rate. The sudden result of the infusion of this foreign energy into the surrounding natural life remained oblivious to Es as she stood somewhat frozen, her foot still in the process of descending for that next step, yet her mind had departed the body   
When the final infusion changes to the forest were completed, her mind returned and she finished her step. A tear made its way down her check, she wished the energy that had earlier suffocated her, would return, finish what it had started as opposed to what she knew awaited her.   
It did not return.  
The tear proceeded down her cheek and found itself stuck on her chin; another step gave it the courage to fall to the ground. The salty drop of water landed on the ground, absorbed magic and turned into a parasitic plant that latched itself onto the closest tree. Its thorns were small but many and waiting for victims to provide it with substance to continue its existence.

From a distance, an entity watched Es as she walked to what could be best described as her imminent death. This figure witnessed as she held out her hand forcing a sword to manifest within it.  
The entity sensed her bravery from where it watched but didn’t admire or resent her for it. This being would make no action against her nor would it take any action in her favor. It was neutral as it would have always been had it not been for the interference of the royalties. It moved forward faster than light and reached the center of the crater. It was not of substance, had no face or actual body but preferred to appear shaped as a human though it never bothered with a face, too much effort to create a face and then proceed to create emotions. No, there has never been a need for a face.   
The being moved to the center of the crater, parts of it appeared to be suspended in water but this was simply to appear elegant though it was a concept void of purpose as none who ever met the entity would ever meet it again. The entity viewed the source of the magical energy, appreciated it and if it had ever gone through the effort of creating a face for itself and learned to make faces based on emotion, then it would have smiled at that moment. 

Es reached the crater, the faceless entity long gone by that time, her sword radiated a silver glow and transformed into a long thin silver blade.   
God, help me  
This took the form of her most sincere prayer and request that she had ever made to God, it came from her heart and she subconsciously invested all her faith into these last mentally voiced three words.  
She took a final breath and proceeded to face the source of the magic.   
God help me.  
The last prayer of Lady Es.  
   
IDENTITY

  I looked around and saw that I lay on the ground of a room covered with roses from the walls to the ceiling but none on the floor. The girl turned her head and looked at me, she stopped singing. Her lips were pale blue but her eyes, blue like the shallow water on a beach. Around them were weird black smudges, like coal had been rubbed around her eyes instead of make up. It emphasized her blue eyes to the extreme. She slowly lifted her head and I noticed that something wet dripped of each strand of her black hair. I looked closer and saw it was red paint, weird red paint. I got up slowly without really looking away from her. With my hindsight I noticed that there was red paint all over the floor.   
“Who are you?” she asked softly, her voice carried a melodic tune with a slight hint of infant innocence...   
“My name,” I lifted my hand and looked carefully at the paint as it dripped, I couldn’t place the texture no matter how I tried, it was mucky and crimson yet somewhat transparent. I noticed the smell in the air and looked at the dolls again.   
Bodies and blood.

   
Caterpillar

Simon Ellec Raven  
There are times I think my dad did it just to spite me. I think he found it amusing to give me a name like Ellec, who gives their first and only son a name like Ellec? On the other hand, I don’t even go by Simon; everyone calls me by my last name; Raven. It sounds better than Simon or Ellec so it works for me. Least my dad didn’t screw up my last name  
That being said, he’s still an asshole.  
I got up from bed, I’d managed to throw my blankets on the ground once again while sleeping, honestly I’m surprised I don’t die from frostbite during the night. I’m know most people hold tight on to whatever heat they can get during the winter, not me though.  
I ate a bowl of cereal and brushed my teeth twice in the hope that it would wake up good old Frank, my father. I looked at myself in the mirror, I looked at my eyes, the lines of sleep deprivation were there, and today they were dark and looked like someone took a swing at me. I have a mutation in my eyes although I’ve never heard of a color mutation that appears and reappears randomly, but that’s what I have. They were mainly dark blue and on odd occasions the red spots were visible. I thought it rocked, but I don’t plan on going around the neighborhood and announcing it to everyone.  
It’s probably because I don’t live in any neighborhood to begin with. Dear father Frank moved us into the forest away from civilization and several miles away from school. Since he only goes to work at nine it means that I get the honor of walking to school.  
I got my bag and headed for the front door, I caught sight of myself in the front mirror, my eyes darted to the chain around my neck, a gift from one of my old school friends. The chain held the ring that my Grandmother gave me, an heirloom that my mother would have passed down to me if she still lived. The ring was unique, pure silver with a subtle multicolor glow of brown, blue, white and red in the light. Embedded into the silver was a very small ruby of dark red and when I wasn’t wearing it around my neck, the ring would be on my hand. It’s the only keepsake I have from my mother and is amongst my most prized possessions.   
It was still dark when I left; it’s always dark when I walk. I had a cup of coffee in a thermos container just for the road. The snow wasn’t thick but I couldn’t really get around it with my bicycle so walking was the only alternative. One thing I hate about the tree’s here, their all green, not normal green but super green. It was a little eerie, I hate this place but the last time I tried to hitchhike the hell out of here, the police took me back home. That was a bad night with Frank. I don’t plan on making the same mistake again; you can only tempt fate so many times.   
There is an upside to moving to this abandoned town, my Grandmother lives here. That little old lady makes me hate Frank a little less whenever I see her. Then I get home and I hate him again. It’s a never ending cycle.   
I walked and thought about the snow boots Frank bought me, he had no idea that he paid for them but it’s the thought that counts, my thoughts to be exact.   
I reached school somewhat early as I do every day. After a few minutes of mindless nothing, I headed to the gas station, Frank is always kind enough to treat me to a hot beverage as I wait for school to start and as usual he has no idea. I walked around since I usually have an hour before life develops at school. I passed by the normal stores until finally I reached my actual predetermined destination. Of all the buildings in town, this one stood out like a sore thumb, it’s too exclusive for me to ever go inside but there’s no shame in admiring it.   
To gain entrance you first had to walk over the fifty meter long bridge, other than that there was no access to the building unless you were prepared to go swimming in the surrounding river. Once over you were met by a man with a list, behind this man there always stood two big brute looking guys, the hotel is called The Midnight.   
The building is standard size, not too tall but it towers over every other structure in town, the grass is vibrant green and whatever season it is, there are always flowers. I’ve never actually seen anyone go inside it, but I’m sure it’s only for those who have the luxury of a big fat bank account.   
I haven’t even met three hundred dollar landmark yet and I’ve been saving money since I understood the only way to liberation would be to get the hell out the moment I’m eighteen and legal and finished with school. Still only two years for me to save enough money to reach my ambitions and it barely seems like I have I enough time.   
I stood in the snow for at least twenty minutes, the building just fascinates me. Maybe it’s just me, but sometimes I feel like the building wants me to go inside, it’s normally round about this time that I just turn around and get to school. On the way back I kept thinking about how none of my current friends ever mentions the Midnight hotel, in fact, now that I think of it, I don’t recall anybody that’s ever mentioned it. I’m sure my Grandmother probably goes to visit it sometimes. I won’t be surprised since she is a well-known business woman. She won’t admit it but I'm sure she can buy the hotel but I’ll feel sorry for all those she employs, she's always sweet to me but as far as I know, she was a Hitler when she was still in her prime.   
I went back to the gas station to get a blueberry muffin; truth is I've had a craving for sushi lately that’s been driving me through the wall. So instead of sushi I went to get something to munch on like a pregnant woman does. Thank God it’s Wednesday, I get to visit Gran and I'm sure I can twist her arm to let us have some sushi. I pondered on that as I went through the aisles to find something else to munch on with the muffin. I saw some band aid and other medical stuff. My body cringed a little. I suddenly felt sick, odd sick; parts of my body suddenly experienced the sensation of pins and needles. My arms suffered most, I had the pins and needles sensation in my left shoulder and the same sensation on the other arm, some of it subsided on my abdominal area but I couldn’t explain it. I started walking away, hoping I wouldn’t do something stupid like faint in a gas station store. That would look tacky and I don’t want people to think I’m a junkie of sorts. 

So my school has the most hateful pedestrian crossing in the world. It’s situated on a curve, oncoming traffic won’t see you while you’re walking over it so it means that you have to run like a lunatic just to ensure that you make it alive to the other side. Most people who know about it have the logic to slack down just in case, but there will always be that one individual who fails the ability to think. So like I said, you have to be a lunatic and luckily I am.  
At school I waited by my locker, the odd sensation of pins and needles gone, though I still had some vivid mental picture of the medical stuff located in that third aisle that I just couldn’t shake. I blame that episode on my sushi withdrawal. Once again I started thinking about sushi.   
Other kids were now already coming in groups and packs; I miss my pack of friends from my old school. I looked up and saw Dmitri – one of my friends – as he walked toward me.  
Dmitri is one of those kids who gets noticed, not because people have taken a liking to him or anything, but because he has some kind of mentality that makes him greet everyone as if he’s the shit. The problem with Dmitri is that he tends to be obnoxious, egocentric for some unknown reason and has a serious bad case of acne.   
I think when he tries to put on any acne cream it just jumps out of his hands and is like “hell no, I'm out”  
All over his face there seems to be misplaced volcanoes that look ready to pop at any moment. I tend to keep a clear distance of one meter in case they decide to spontaneously blow one day without warning. I wonder if he’ll feel a throbbing sensation prior to eruption. He’ll probably say something stupid like ‘my face feels al tingly’ and then juices will be flying all over, other kids will jump and scream in terror and there will be casualties struck by yellow pimple sauce. I guarantee that the first person closest to me will be used as a shield otherwise I’ll get out of the way and save myself first. It will be a bad day for him, he’ll probably get a day named after him, and it will be called something like pimple day, dedicated to Dmitri.  
“Yoho man what sup” he said and shook my hand.   
“You a pirate now or what?” I asked and wiped my hand against my pants, he has sweaty hands too.   
“Guess what?” he asked and I took a deep breath. Here we go.  
“I’m all ears.”  
He started talking. The thing about when Dmitri starts talking, you could drop a bomb next to him, yell for everyone to get the hell out of the way, have a run for cover and then boom! After which he’d only realize the he should have stopped talking by the time he realizes that he is by the gates of heaven or hell.  
Next in line was Naomi, I only had biology with her and we were friends to some extent. Her frizzy red hair was in a pony-tail with a very fuzzy ancient looking hair-tie, she had pale white skin that looked oily in the light and she didn’t care what people thought of her, not in the too cool for school way, she was that girl who used big words in her speeches that even the teachers had to look up after the lesson. She thought she was a real smart ass and that the rest of us were inferior to her. It doesn’t explain why she and Dmitri have secretly been dating behind everyone’s back.   
“Raven,” she said stiffly like she had a carrot up her ass.  
“How are you today?”  
“Did we have any bio to do? I was busy,” I ignored her quick glance at Dmitri.  
“We only have that test we had to study for today,” MS whitely threatened us with extra homework if we didn’t ace it.  
“Shit!” She went down to the ground, pulled out her workbook and began studying   
Little by little the kids of my ‘group’ came walking to us. I don’t care much for these friends, I feel guilty about it, but it’s the truth. I have friends back home that are more important to me, not so superficial and snobbish or arrogant. I already have those friends that will stick with you to the end. I don’t even want to have friends here, I’d rather be on my own and be left to my own thoughts of freedom, but the unfortunate thing of today’s society is that any teenager who frequents time on their own above standard social activity is either depressed or a danger or some or other unacceptable abnormality and the best thing to do is to contact the parents. The guidance counselor spotted me, phoned Frank and he helped me understand what a nuisance I was being. So I sit with Dmitri and the others during lunch, we hang out before school starts and that’s describes the extent of the friendship.   
We went in class for road call, I sat in the back next to a window, and I started losing myself looking at the snow. I have this class for business study so I know that this is the best seat, I rarely need to pay attention in business so I spend the hour just staring out the window. I heard kids whispering around me, I looked to see what bothered them, but I knew already.  
Ashe Sterling.  
She is something of an old new student. She went to go school here, then her parents suddenly moved away and a month after Frank moved us here, they came back and she’s been on my mind since. She’s blond, it’s the dark ash blond with an undertone of black. She’s a natural pouter; she does it subconsciously most of the time. She can wear anything she wants to and it would make her look amazing and she knows it, but I think that she doesn’t brag as much as she probably knows she could. She’s considerate and not obsessed with her appearance. She doesn’t stop by every reflection to see how she looks like her friend Jessica does, I think Ashe takes that initial approving look before she leaves her house in the morning and then doesn’t bother about it again. I watched as she came in, greeted everyone within her immediate range and sat down. Jessica started a conversation with her and they giggled, it was hard to tear my eyes away from her, mostly because of her eyes, they could hold me forever. They’re green, not a harsh in your face green, instead it’s a subtle green, but I’m sure I could look into them and be lost by time and not realize it. I looked outside; the sudden ray of sunshine warming up my seat didn’t go unnoticed. I enjoyed the heat, took it in as much as I could, I’m sure I heard a camera sound or something but I ignored it.   
I started class, advanced biology first. Biology is the first of my three advanced placement classes, other than bio I have math and English, I didn’t want science unless I could take it as an additional subject to get me a free period a day. I’ve had Ms. Whitely since my freshman year for bio, she was a small woman with mouse like teeth, her hair was a vivid red these days that sometimes appeared purple and we all know what that means. I find it funny that a biology teacher that teaches freshman to seniors and knows the human body and its anatomy also smokes in between classes. I can smell her from where she sits at her table. On each of our tables there was a paper face down, the test.   
“Begin,” she said when we were all settled down. I turned the page and examined the paper; the first twenty questions consisted of monkey puzzles, followed by terminology that preceded identifying labels and a ten point essay about the spine. I finished in nine minutes, rescanned my answers and stood up to have the test graded.   
“Have you double checked all your answers?” She asked while looking over her glasses to give me that glare that would make any other student suddenly doubt themselves, but I’m good at keeping my pose against higher authority.   
“I did.” I kept her gaze, after a moment she started marking.   
I sat down after she double checked herself, I am proud to say that I received a 95% with the only mistakes being a few of the monkey puzzles and I take pride in that. After ten more minutes had gone by I could see that everyone else weren’t as fortunate. After another five minutes Whitely stood up abruptly and told everyone to hand in their papers immediately. Ten minutes later I could feel the smoke pouring out of her ears. She had dark brown eyes, the kind of eyes that would terrify you if she was angry; they seemed to suck all life out of the classroom at this moment.   
“You,” she pointed at me. “Outside now.”   
If there’s one thing you don’t mess with, it’s a biology teacher who is pissed. I only needed contact with those eyes once to know that I had to move as fast as I could to get the hell out of there.  
I walked out and for a brief second Ashe flashed through my mind.   
I put my bag on the ground outside the classroom and sighed; I heard shuffling and typing and knew there was someone else here. I looked up and my heart literally forgot to pump blood for a brief second. Ashe Sterling sat maybe less than ten feet away from me.   
“Hi there,” I said first, and then I remembered all the previous encounters I've had with her and cringed mentally. They weren’t friendly encounters   
“Hey.”   
“You got sent out of class, this would be a first as far as I know,” I tried again.  
She smiled, I liked that, her smile is nice to look at, it makes her whole face brighten up.  
“I was having a laughing fit with Jessica and she managed to control herself, I didn’t.”   
“What were you laughing about?” I asked the obvious.  
“When Mr. Tumbler writes on the board and has his back to the class, you can make a face with the lines on the back of his head.”   
I thought I was the only one,” I said and sat down, we both looked up as Ms. whitely took to a louder voice and shorter sentences.   
“What did you get sent out for?” Ashe asked.  
“It’s her system, I was the only one who did good with her test so she spared me-” there was a sudden shout “-from that”  
“That’s funny,” she said.  
I looked down, I never knew it was this easy to talk to her, I’m glad that nobody else studied today, and my biggest obstacle thus far was talking to Ashe and getting her alone to do that. By some leap of fate it’s happened.   
I was about to say something when I noticed her phone, it was odd, I could see directly into the camera lens, I smiled to myself mostly, she was probably still making fun of Mr. tumbler with Jessica even though a wall was separating them. She smiled at her phone for some reason and then put it away.  
“What’s so funny” I was curious.  
“Nothing, Jessica just made a girl joke so I'm not going to repeat it.” Her cheeks turned red. “I heard you were a straight A student.”   
“Well, mostly a’s so far, but I do get a B here and there” I’ve only received one B in my whole year but I’ve had a few more before we moved here so I can’t say I've never seen what a B looks like, Hell, I've had F’s before, but that really was a long time ago.   
“That’s impressive.”  
“How so?” I don’t understand what’s impressive about good grades to a fellow student.   
“It’s just, I mean Dmitri is a fail,” she realized what she said and bit her lip.  
“I know,” I reassured her.  
She frowned.  
“How can you say that, isn’t he your best friend?”  
“No, I have a best friend, Dmitri is not him.” Dmitri was nothing like my best friend, William is like my brother I never had and I’m like Williams best brother since he already has a brother.   
“So why do you hang out with Dmitri and Naomi and them, I’m sure you can make better friends.”  
“I can’t just leave Naomi and the others like that because…”  
“You’re dating Naomi?” Ashe asked slowly and it sounded more like an accusation than a question.  
“Of course not”, I noticed her eyes go wide.  
“You’re not? But you spend so much time together and,” she stopped.  
“She’s part of my group of friends, I have biology with her, we tend to start discussions that nobody else can follow and that’s why we’re always talking and such,” I couldn’t help but smile at her, it was funny for her to think I was dating Naomi. They say opposites attract but Naomi is the definition of my ‘hell no list’.   
I know there’s the whole red heads are supposed to be fun saying but Naomi was like the spoiler. I don’t want to date someone who makes a living of being a snob, I mean I get that I also have good grades but my life doesn’t revolve around trying to always be right whether it’s on paper or in real life. When Naomi and I disagree about something it’s like her life’s ambition to be right and when she finally realizes that she's not, she’ll turn around saying the conversation is pointless, that’s the only form of defeat she’ll ever give you. We’ve lost biology periods because of her arguments with Ms. Whitely about some biology questions that normally ended up with Naomi sitting detention. I’m surprised that Naomi did badly on this test today; she never does badly on any test.   
“I just thought. I'm sorry,” she said though she still sounded like she needed some convincing.  
“Trust me when I say that I am not dating her,” if she doesn’t get it now, then I’m going to have to draw a diagram.  
“Oh, she’s I didn’t know, who’s she seeing then?”  
“Can’t tell you, I promised her.” I felt guilty withholding the information.  
“Ok, I’ll believe you.”   
“Though I have to admit, the famous Ashe Sterling getting sent outside does surprise me a little,” I felt the need to change the topic.   
“I’m not perfect” she said and tried to hide her smile.  
“You’re a B+ A- as far as I know.”  
“You’ve been asking around about me?” she asked and smiled, it was different from any smile I've ever seen from her, it seemed special. I took a deep breath and fought the sensation in my stomach  
“You’re the one who brought up my grades first, have you been asking around about me?”  
Her cheeks turned red.   
“It’s not that, everyone talks about you, you’re not as unpopular as other people”  
“You mean my friends?” I teased her and she looked down and I wanted to reach over to her, but I kept my hands at bay. “Relax, I don’t care that much what people think of me and my friends, is true that were not really part of the crowd but I think there are worse things out there to care about than who fits in where.”  
The class ended and we both got up from the ground. I heard something fall on the ground and looked down to see a key.   
“Yours? I asked as I picked it up. Ashe looked at it with an odd expression. It was like she recognized it but was surprised to see it.   
“You keep it,” she said with a smile and at that the other students emerged from class and I was left there holding on to the key with a strange sensation of warmth in my body.  
“Why is it so hot all of a sudden?” someone asked but I didn’t pay attention to who. Ashe basically just gave me a gift even though it was random. I put the key in my pocket and headed of.   
The rest of the day was a breeze that I couldn’t remember all too well. .   
I do remember lunch because I normally go to the big old dumpster by the art division and feed a homeless cat whatever leftover food we had left. Some part of me felt guilty that I couldn’t do more but I mean it had only one eye and scab patches where there wasn’t fur. I don’t know why I’m so taken by cats.   
I scratched her behind the ear and then took the previous container and walked away, I felt too guilty around her to stay for too long. I’m just grateful that nobody’s found her and that she doesn’t follow me.   
I went to sit down at the cafeteria with Dmitri and the others. The first thing I noticed was the five new tables of which only two tables had not yet been occupied.   
I looked at our table as it connected with the dumpsters, on some days the trash overflows and becomes part of our table.   
“Hey Dmitri, see there are two tables over there that haven’t been claimed yet.”   
“So what about it?” he asked and ate whatever bizarre lunch his mom packed him.  
“It’s just, really?” I asked “this is a crap table, those are better tables, and politically speaking it would be a genius move and a social success to relocate.”  
“There’s nothing wrong with where we are right now.”  
“You are joking right?”  
“What’s wrong with this table?” he asked and as he did someone threw their trash away and two thirds of it fell on the table.  
“For starters, that?”  
“Everyone,” he demanded their attention and I recognized his tone. “Raven wants us to change tables because he thinks that it’s embarrassing to be seen with us here.”  
The table went quiet.  
“If you want to change tables then go ahead,” he said to me and I looked at everyone else, they wouldn’t move. I got up and went to sit down by one of the tables, I was by myself but didn’t think much of it. I prove a point this way that I won’t be governed by someone like him.   
As we headed back to class he walked next to me, gloating because of this ‘victory’.   
“That was a dick move Dmitri,” I said shortly before he had to turn off.”  
“They chose me and that’s all that matters. If you want to change things go ahead and try, but don’t think you can take my place.”  
I stared at him in disbelief.  
“You think I care about who takes the place of our ‘group leader’, I could care less, I was just thinking about how much better we’d be off without of the crap everyone throws at us, it’s pretty lame. If you like shit tables that much, keep it. I couldn’t care less.” I walked on without a second glance. I’m not really surprised with his behavior, its typical Dmitri trying to be in control of everyone, but I belong to nobody.  
The day ended while I was in free study, I was busy with algebra, hate it, it’s doable but definitely not likable, above math I hate the teacher; Mr. Harding. I think my initial dislike for math is mainly because of him. I think he could make a person hate anything that they normally love.  
I finished a little earlier with the algebra and ended up scribbling in my notepad. The end of the school day came as the final bell rang. I packed my bags and took a deep excited breath, my Grandmother awaited and that meant sushi which meant my pregnant needs would finally be met. The only obstacle between me and my sushi is my dear Grandmother’s obsessive addiction.


	2. day out

Day out  
Whenever I go to Gran we have this thing of hers that we do in my cave. I spoke to Naomi via earpiece while I took the balancing beam since Gran was out of sight.  
“He probably didn’t mean to be such a…”  
“Dick?” I asked and placed my left foot in front of my right, Dmitri took the topic of our current discussion.  
“I suppose if that’s how you see it,” she said like I was being impossible.   
“Naomi,” I said and I turned carefully as not to lose my balance. “There are ways to address a situation, he pretty much publically embarrassed me.” I turned carefully and looked down once, the fall would be damaging to my ego above all else.  
“Have you talked to him since?”  
“No, we haven’t talked about your problem,” I casually started walking forward on the beam and slightly increased my momentum to prepare my body for what I had in mind.  
“I just don’t know if he’s as serious about us as I am.”   
I moved forward and bolted my body into a hand stand; I looked down at the ground ninety feet below. It would suck to lose my balance right now.  
“Give him time,” I said and looked at my hands, the ring was on my left middle finger. I looked at it briefly before I turned with my hands to get back up the way I came down.  
“We’ve been dating for three months Raven!”  
“You want him to say I love you already? That’s moving fast, is he even going to get into a college at his current rate?”  
The turn failed and my body lowered away from the beam, I immediately repositioned my hands to prepare for gravity’s take. My body began to fall and I allowed it until the weight was on my hands and I made myself swing underneath the beam and eventually with the momentum to land on it with my feet again. I exhaled as the adrenaline kicked in.   
“Everything ok?” A voice came from below.  
“Hey Naomi, I have to go, I’ll talk to you later. Bye.” I hung up and took the ear piece out and shoved it on my pocket. “Everything’s great,” I yelled out as my Grandmother came walking through one of the passageways that lead to another chamber of the cave. I pretended to have difficulties with my balance.   
I saw her from here; her short grey hair looked like it had been caught in a breeze. Her clothes were earthly and she looked as usual, prim and proper. From where I stood she looked small.   
My Grandmother is in truth a very small person, a small breeze could probably whisk her away, but the thing about her is that size doesn’t matter. She has this presence of authority about her; she could probably make a grown man cry in five minutes if she wants to. She just demands respect without verbally demanding it. Given that I’m her Grandson, I get favored. I think I have a special place in her heart that I don’t plan on ever giving up. I watched as she leaned against a stalagmite like it was a leaning post.  
I looked up at the stalactites above me, anyone of them would kill me if they decided to fall, down below some of the stalagmites protruded as close to the mites as they could. Those that had been in the way of Gran’s furnishing were gone now.   
Nobody would ever suspect there to have been a cave beneath the waterfall by the river. It was a stroke of random luck to have found it in the first place, I was fooling around one day and saw a small hole behind the curtain of water, curiosity got the best of me and I made my way to it, when I reached it, it wasn’t as small as it appeared to have been and somehow I hadn’t gotten a drop of water on me, I ventured inside and was led through a tunnel that must have been a quarter of a mile downwards before it opened up into the cave. The area that the first chamber covered would fit in two baseball fields, there was another chamber that covered less space but I've never gone any further. I told my Gran about my discovery and she demanded I show her the location of the cave. I did and she seemed overjoyed which made me feel good. I thought it sucked that there was basically no light whatsoever in the cave; at the time you could barely see your hand in front of your face if you held it out. I’m still not sure how she did it, but the next day she waited for me at school, told me to drive us as close as I could to the spot, excitedly led the way to the cave and when I walked in after her it took me five minutes to take in what she had done in one day. She had leveled out the ground, put up lights around the chamber and placed in a few appliances like a coffee machine and such. The real thing that she took pride in was the set of obstacle course items she had placed in here for ‘me’. The first was an archery spot, the second was a field with walls and surfaces where I had to test my reflexes by jumping from wall to wall and on every odd occasion running to a wall and doing a back flip or something crazy like that. Gran has this weird obsession with gymnastics lately not to mention some stuff similar to it. It’s gone to the extent that she had me training for six months like a lunatic cyborg after which I finally mastered everything she had drilled into my head and on the training field. I actually found it quite stimulating once I got the hang of it. Though now it’s just becoming a bore for me that I’m making it riskier every time she’s out of sight. One of her many other items was the balancing beam with a width of half a foot supported by only two stands ninety feet above ground. The first time she said I had to get up here I said not a hell and turned around to walk away, she bribed me with sushi.   
I slowly got the hang of walking on the beam and now I'm doing tricks and hand stands just to get a kick out of it.   
“I think I’m going to fall,” I said calmly. (I made the mistake of yelling down to her once and I lost my sushi, there’s nothing wrong with that little old lady’s hearing.)   
“Oh nonsense, I saw you do a hand stand, attempt to turn, fail and fall just to reposition yourself all while talking that someone on the phone.”  
“Don’t miss anything do you?”  
“No,” she said. “Now do two flips and climb down from there!”  
“I refuse.”  
“Do you want me to take you to the sushi kitchen or not?”  
“You do two flips you senile evil old woman,” I retorted.  
“I heard that!”  
“I know,” I said and grinned.  
I did the two flips one forward and one backwards. I climbed down carefully, I hate climbing down from anywhere, getting up is nothing but down is a real stick in the ass.   
“You’re a horrible woman,” I said as I touched the ground and relaxed.   
“You tend to be the worst grandson I have.”  
“I'm the only grandson you have.”  
“Point and made.”  
“To that, I’m the only one you have and you risk my life up there.”   
“I find it entertaining,” she stated.   
“Worst grandmother ever in the history of grandmothers,” I announced to the cave.   
“Have you died yet?” She asked as she got her purse.  
“I could have.”  
“But you haven’t.”  
“That’s your argument?”  
“Yes. My methods always work by simple logic.”  
“Your methods are medieval, though that’s understandable.”  
“What’s that supposed to mean” she asked as she walked to me.  
“Well, you were born in the medieval ages.”  
“Excuse me?”  
“I mean you have to be like ancient old Gran, I'm sure on your school photo you’re just chilling there with your best friend for life Eve.”  
“Don’t think I’ll take kindly to your disrespect,” she said as we walked to the tunnel to the entrance.  
“I do respect you; you’re like a historical landmark that walks.”  
“Oh enough,” she said while laughing then looked at me and frowned.  
“Still Simon?” she gave me a disapproving look.  
“What did I do now?” I asked and looked around but she held my face in one hand and with the other traced something beneath my eyes with her finger.  
“You’re still not sleeping?” she asked.  
“I sleep, just not much.” I said and shrugged. She let go of my face.  
“I can’t believe after all the effort I go through none of the things I give you seems to be working for this, this.”  
“Insomnia?” I stated, it seems to be the one word she refuses to remember. She nodded, thought about something that clearly concerned her for a brief moment and then sighed, took me by the arm and we left.   
We walked uphill from the path that led to the waterfall and I looked at the deeper side of the forest where it always seemed darker and creepier, I was there a few days ago and I kept getting a weird sense of malevolence, like something bad was going to happen to me there. At some point I thought I heard something walking close to me and it was when I took to being a scared cat and fled.   
As we made our way up I looked to where the shadows where in the deeper forest, there was a shadow that looked wrong somehow. It was perfectly still, but it felt like I was being watched, like I was being watched by the shadow. I looked forward and didn’t look back again, it was difficult but I managed. Gran gave me the keys to her car and I drove us to the sushi kitchen, we drove by the hotel.  
“Have you ever been in there?” I asked.  
“In where?”  
“That hotel,” I pointed at it,  
“You mean that one over there with the bridge?” she indicated at the Midnight hotel.  
“Yeah, the big one, you know, impossible to miss.”  
“No,” she said fast.  
“Really? I’d thought you’d have been there when they build the foundation, what, maybe like a century ago.”  
“One day I’m going to hit you over the head because of all your snot nose comments.”  
“You love me too much old lady.”  
“I do,” she said sincerely and I parked us at the ‘small’ mall where the sushi bar was.   
“Before we eat raw fish.”  
“You need to do some grocery shopping right?”  
“Clever boy,” she took my arm as I opened her door for her, there was a decent breeze and I'm sure that the wind would just up and take her with a quick swoop.   
“I know you Gran.”  
“That’s what you think,” she said and I'm probably mistaken but I thought I heard some bitterness in her voice.   
I walked through the aisles pushing the trolley after her. So far we had everything she needed for cookies and a chocolate cake with strawberries that she's been considering, since I first taunted her saying that she probably couldn’t bake the latter. I was busy looking at some cat food while she was in the next aisle when I felt eyes on me. I looked to my left and saw a man walking towards me like he was an FBI agent who’s just spotted a terrorist.   
I carefully moved back out of his way but his eyes were set on me.  
“Excuse me,” he started and I sighed.  
“You are excused,” I said and he was slightly thrown off.  
“Sorry?”   
“It’s ok, I forgive you. Can I help you?” I asked.  
“Yes, my name is Jeffrey Bright and I have a proposition for you.”  
“A proposition?” I asked and inspiration hit. “Ok, hey listen buddy; first off, I don’t know you well enough to take this step.”  
“What?” he asked frowning.  
“I mean I'm sure you’re a nice guy and everything but I don’t row in the same boat that you’re in, though I'm sure you’re going to meet a nice guy somewhere in your life, it’s not me, I'm straight.”  
“What are you talking about” he asked and I give him three seconds.   
“Wait, you don’t think that I’m, ga-,” his eyes widened.  
“You’re not oh I'm sorry, I just heard you say proposal and judging by your suit I just assumed that…”  
“I said proposition.”  
“Are you sure?” I asked while he looked at his suit, he looked back up and looked me in the eye, I've discovered I can make people doubt themselves by keeping eye contact and giving a questioning look, like I knew better. The moment I played the look they started doubting themselves.   
“Yes, no, I don’t recall, well I have a proposition for you.”  
“What is it then?”   
“Have you ever considered a modeling career?”  
“Not really,” not since the last guy cornered me four days ago while I was getting a burger.  
“How old are you.”  
“I’m fifteen, my birthday is this week and then I’m sixteen.” I said.  
“That’s fantastic, how would you like to be a model?” Jeffrey Bright asked me.  
“Not-at-all,” Gran said suddenly next to me with baking powder in her hands.  
“Are you his mother?” Jeffrey tried but I just smiled inwardly.  
“He’s all yours Gran,” I took a step back.  
“Are you daft, does it look like I’m his mother? I'm old and almost three times his age, I hit menopause fifty years ago before you were even conceived.”   
I tried not to laugh.  
“I was just trying to be.”  
“Smart, smooth or slick! Do I look like someone who can be swayed by flirtation?”  
“Well not really.”   
“So you’re saying I'm an old hag?”  
“Well, no I, I didn’t say that!”  
“Because I am!”  
He opened his mouth but was clearly incapable of finding a response.   
“You modeling vultures keep coming after him and it would seem that I need to keep an eye out for him all the time.”  
“He has great potential Ms.” The talent seeker inside him fought a bit.  
“Do I look married to you? Am I wearing a wedding band? Well am I?” she held out her empty hands.  
“I just thought that since he’s your Grandson, you know?”  
“That I’d be married?”  
“Most women with Grandchildren are married.”  
“What did you just imply?” she asked slowly and dangerously.  
“Nothing,” he said suddenly struggling with his speech.  
“Say it again,” she slowly walked closer to him. “I dare you.”  
“I scared.”  
“Good because you just insulted me.”  
“I’m sorry, I don’t know how I,” Jeffrey tried but his smooth tone was down the drain, now he simply stumbled over his words.  
“I’m sure what you don’t know could fill a library, in fact why don’t you go to one and read up on best ways to talk to angry old women because clearly you’re not doing a very good job at it.”  
“I should go.”  
“Yes you should, goodbye Jeffrey not so bright,” she said as he turned around and hasted away. I put cat food in the trolley and started pushing again.  
“I can’t take you anywhere,” she said more to herself than to me.  
“Technically speaking, I’m the one who brought you here,” I said.  
“Fact is I should leave you in the car.”  
“It’s not my fault that they lurk everywhere.”  
“Vultures.”  
“Maybe it’s a sign that I should be a model.”  
“No, I want you to have a normal life for as long as you can,” she said and put in some cat nip.  
“You have me balancing on a beam ninety feet from the ground,” I said glaring at her.  
“That’s not the point.”  
“I love you too, you old hag,” I said and we approached the counter to pay for everything.   
“May I see some ID please?” the girl at the counter asked.  
“Oh for the love of,” Gran took out her ID and presented it to the girl. “It’s not like I look twenty one anymore.”  
“Your total comes to two hundred and sixty.”  
Gran gave the girl her card while I packed the trolley with bags. Her phone rang and she answered it. Gran normally receives like fifty phone calls in one day at the least, she used to be a business woman in her prime, and it seems they can’t manage without her. I waited as she finished up and walked to me  
“Have a good day” she said timidly and I knew she wasn’t alright, her tone was too timid  
“You ok?” I asked as we walked.  
“Yes,” she's said but there was a second’s hesitation that I picked up.   
“You’re lying,” I said.  
“Simon dear.”  
“Tell me” I said and looked at my arms, for a second it felt like they had I had reached out with them to her but my arms where still at my sides. I looked at Gran, her eyes looked darker somehow and my stomach felt like it was tied in knots, only one thing could make her seem this morbid  
“That was my doctor honey,” she said and I shook my head slightly. “The cancer is spreading, it’s more aggressive than they initially anticipated.”  
I felt a little dizzy, I looked at the clock on the wall, I was so disorientated that it looked like the second indicator was slower, like it was taking its time to take down the next second.   
Gran was diagnosed with cancer several months ago, she’s been going for treatment but they found more cancer that was tied and knotted beyond surgical salvation. When she found this out she quit the treatment and just went in for checkups to see the progression. Since I found out I tried to prepare myself for the day, when it would come, that she no longer... I'm not sure I’m ready for her to pass away. It felt like the walls were closing in on me.   
“Let’s go,” I started pushing the trolley, it was hard to breath. The whole store was suddenly so humid I just had to get out. We were outside and for some reason it was still too hot for my liking.  
“Honey, calm down,” Gran put her hands on my shoulders. “Now take a deep breath and calm down I know you’re slightly stressed out now.”  
“I don’t want to lose you.”  
“You won’t, I’ll fight until the end, but you need to calm down ok sweetheart.”  
I took a deep breath; it seemed to cool down a little.  
“Let’s go eat some sushi,” she said.  
“I don’t feel like it anymore.”  
“Oh nonsense, you always feel like sushi, let’s go.” She pulled me again and I smiled at her determination. The owner saw us and welcomed us with open arms; he shook my hand and hugged Gran. He took us to our regular Wednesday table and went to the first waiter close by, gave him our orders that he knew by heart and whispered something in the poor guys’ ear that made his expression go from bored to dead terrified. The waiter handed his current table over to another and went to the kitchen soon after. I see it happen every time we come to eat here. Gran has the contacts and names to guarantee the best service and meals. Any business owner, who doesn’t know her name, does within ten minutes of her arrival.   
“Did he give you a time period at least, your doctor?” I asked as we were served our sodas.   
She looked at me for a few moments; I suppose she was contemplating whether or not she should tell me.  
“I’d rather be prepared than caught off guard Gran, there might be some mental side effects if I just get home one day and your gone, what if I’m in that forest and can’t get signal.”  
“He said that if I don’t go back for the treatment, then it would be soon. He wasn’t clear on exactly how soon but it sounded soon,” she said making me roll my eyes at her, this woman.  
“That’s it, just soon, how soon, tomorrow soon, next week soon, right now soon?” Our food came and the waiter handed us our chopsticks, “that soon?”  
I rolled the California rolls around a bit. My appetite was right there but my mind was on other things.  
“Nobody lives forever, it is the way nature works my dear child,” she said in her oh-Granny-knows-everything voice.  
“I understand that, but why can’t nature be nicer to us, why should I have to lose my Grandmother ‘soon’ when she’s the most important person in my life right now.” I started eating something from my plate; I wasn’t really paying that much attention to what it was.   
“Oh bah, soon might be in another year or three. Haven’t you heard of when a doctor tells their patients that they only have four months left to live and then those same patients survive for years instead?”  
“So you think you’ll live until I finish my senior year, you could take me to Yale of Harvard.”  
“Aren’t you aiming a little high?”  
“Not really, I mean I have decent grades and with you as my sponsor, I mean your name is apparently world renowned, so I think my chances are pretty damn good.”  
“Language,” she said.  
“I've heard you speak to some of those people who bother you, my language is like child’s play.”  
She laughed her soft Gran laugh then shook her head.  
“University,” she said.  
“You have to be there, to see me go to university or college.”  
“You want me there?”  
“Of course, I can’t think anyone else to take me to sign up.”  
“Ok, I’ll be there.”  
“Promise?” I asked.  
“Oh very well, I promise I won’t miss your first day of college or university. Whichever you decide.” she looked me in the eye. “I won’t miss it, I promise.” I felt happy; Gran never breaks her promises, never.   
“Just a few more years, I’m not sure what I’ll major in though” I have to really start thinking about this kind of stuff before it’s too late.   
“Look at me,” she said and I did, she stared at me for several moments without a word.  
“What?” I asked concerned that something was wrong, that maybe the mutation of red has returned.  
“Have I ever told you of who you resemble the most?”  
“You said my mom didn’t you?” Because I look nothing like Frank, I think he got skipped in the gene pool regarding my looks.  
“Yes, you have your mother’s eyes, nose, mouth and hair.”  
“I've noticed.”  
“It seems like you have her tongue and wise cracks too. I do so wish that you would meet her one day.”  
“If I'm good, maybe I will.”  
“You are good, like her, I see it all the time, even when you defend your friends your so like her.”  
Gran laughed, then her laugh turned into a cough and she excused herself. I looked at the people walking by, each had their own concerns, some reality that waited to either crush them or build them. My Grandmother was dying, I only had Frank since my mother died during childbirth and all other family members seem to have died before my birth. That is my reality; it’s not even that bad, I'm sure some of these people had five times bigger issues to deal with than I do. I heard singing from somewhere, I ignored the tingling sensation against my skin and the people whispering around me. The singing was so beautiful, like a hum of bells in the wind.  
One woman caught my attention, she had shoulder length red hair with a single grey streak and wore a blue dress with high heels, her whole appearance looked out of time, part of a trend I suppose. Her jacket seemed plastic in a way and her jewelry was flashy, she walked with a purse in her hand, on each finger was a glamorous ring, I noticed one that stood out the most: the big blue one on her index finger. Her neck maintained a single line of pearls while her ears had a pearl each. Her lips were slightly red and her skin pale as a sheet. She looked in my direction very briefly and I saw her eyes to be milky green. I don’t think she noticed me but I noticed her, behind her there were three men carrying bags. She was on her phone, clearly annoyed at something. I heard her from where I sat yet for some reason everyone seemed to take no notice of her. I watched as she continued walking on, like nobody around her mattered. It made me think of people so obnoxious that when they walk in town they demand that common folk not take note of them because the common folk are not worthy.   
“Are you finished?”  
I jumped as Gran spoke, I didn’t even notice her return.   
“You could be an assassin.”   
“So could you,” she chuckled   
I got up and held my hand up for her. She took it and we walked. We were walking to the car again.  
“I wouldn’t be a good assassin,” I said.  
“I think you would, I’ve never heard you walk since you were a baby, quiet like a cat. Not to mention the martial arts styles you seem to have a knack for were familiarized with assassins in the old times.”  
“I don’t get it,” I said as I opened her door for her. “Why do I have to learn all these strange things Gran?”  
I went to the driver’s seat, got in and started the car but I didn't drive, I waited for my answer.  
I looked at Gran, her eyes were looking forward but I could see she wasn’t here. I sighed and started driving.  
“When I was younger,” she started suddenly and I slammed the brakes, she just glared at me, took a breath and continued. “I had a friend, Amy. We were close friends since childhood,”  
I didn’t know any of Gran’s friends named Amy.  
“Then a few years ago, she was violated. She couldn’t defend herself and afterwards, what had happened to her eventually lead to her death. I’m not saying that it would ever happen to you, but maybe someday you will see a victim and save them, maybe someday someone will try and corner you and you will be able to defend yourself. I don’t want to relive what happened to her while I'm still able to help prevent it, you are my pride and joy Simon. I want to protect you from the cruel evils of the world as long as I can.” She smiled at me and I shook my head.  
“You could have just said your senile and you get off watching me balancing high above the ground.” I took her home.   
I helped carry out all the bags and once inside Gran took to making hot coco while I unpacked her groceries. Packing groceries in Grans kitchen is a tactic mission. The best way to go about it would be to get everything that goes to the same location together and to take them as a single unit to their destined location. Unless you’re trying to get fit. Gran’s kitchen is massive; then again Gran doesn’t live in a house: she lives in a mansion. Her living room can probably support Frank’s house with space to spare. Each room has its own bathroom and they aren’t small rooms either, the study is in the room next to the library. The dining room has a direct view to the garden that takes the size of a football field and is kept in great condition.   
I finished packing the fridge items away and sat down by the glass table in the dining room, I didn’t hear him, but I knew Bob was there before he jumped on my lap. I scratched his ear and thought about how he had once nearly killed Gran’s mail delivery guy because the guy was stupid enough to have smelled like fish. Bob pressed his head against my leg; I ran my hand through the cat’s tabby fur and took it all the way to the tail.   
“Before I forget, you’re coming here again tomorrow.” she took a sip of her coco.  
“You already asked,” I caught her glare, “told Frank about the arrangement?”  
“I have spoken to your father, he has approved it.”  
“Like anyone dare say no to you,” she glared again. “Stop judging me, you’re the Grandmother teaching her Grandson the art of assassination style fighting so there.”  
“Are you still on about that?” she asked.  
“It’s all I got, I don’t want to use the whole ninety feet above ground balancing business too much or else I might wear it out.”  
“Speaking of which, how would you like a motorcycle for your birthday.”  
I stared.  
She stared.  
We stared.  
“Did you just say what I think you said?”   
“Well, since you’re turning sixteen and I think you deserve a bike, not a bicycle but a motorcycle”  
“Yeah, of course but I don’t have papers or anything to drive one yet”  
“Don’t you concern yourself about that; I’ll take care of that”  
I nodded. Hello world, meet my Grandmother, the mafia leader, by making a few simple calls she can probably organize a passport, drivers, ID and social security for anybody.   
I didn’t say it out loud, I just finished my coco, and sometimes Gran does have the ability to scare me in a way. Just because it seems that there’s nothing she can’t do.   
“I’ll see you tomorrow Gran,” I said as I walked away, Gran wanted me to take her car but I’m fine with walking, it always give me some clarity about things.   
I took a breath, the cold air cut through my lungs like a knife, it was raining and I could feel my nose burning slightly. I continued walking, thinking about how fuzzy my head felt. I looked at the time, it was close to six, I looked up, I didn’t realize it was already so dark. I came by a tree trunk that wasn’t too far from the cottage, I sat down to catch my breath, snow had reached into my shoes and gone wet inside. I looked into the deeper side of the forest, it was darker as usual. I got up and walked to the border of the forest that separated the side I was on from the darker side. For some reason, I can’t explain it, it feels like the forest sings to me to come closer.   
I looked into the dark forest, I heard no sound from inside, it’s like all sound simply seized from a certain point and I just didn’t notice it before. I reached out with my hand; it was like I could feel a drop in temperature right there. There is no heat, no kindness, no life and no claimed ownership yet.  
I pulled my hand back and looked around, no one except me here. I took a step forward; it felt like I had taken a walk into a freezer. My whole body recognized the temp shift. I exhaled and it looked like I was smoking. I looked at my hands, the heat my body produced was basically creating steam. I was about to take that step back when a branch close to me cracked. I looked up in the direction where I thought I heard the sound but couldn’t see anything. The bones in my body tensed, I concentrated on my hearing and sight. I looked around and tried to hear another branch breaking or that sound of footsteps on the ground. It was getting darker, shadows were popping up at random places some looked like they were moving, I took one breath and held it as a shadow grew in size faster than all the others, it looked like it was getting taller. It looked like it was making its way to me. My heart had probably not been beating the whole time because I only now felt it again in my throat. The shadow made a low grumbling sound  
Ok. Shit. Run.   
I turned around and ran as fast as I could. I ran by the trunk, grabbed my schoolbag and just kept on going even though the cold burned my lungs. I didn’t dare stop.   
I'm losing my mind. It was probably a figment of my imagination but it was a pretty damn good one. It’s my imagination, it has to be, but still I was running like it was real. I wonder what happened to make me delusional.   
I reached the cottage and nearly broke the door getting inside. I sank against it and took deep breaths; I listened to make sure there wasn’t anything outside. I calmed down a little, taking slower breaths, they still hurt. I went to the fireplace and threw a few pieces of wood inside, I didn’t see the matches and cursed Frank for taking them, I’m sure he must have lost his lighter like usual. I've never tried the flint trick but then again we didn’t have flint to begin with. I lay down on the cold tiles and looked at the wood. I felt tired all of a sudden; my eyes were heavy like lead. I saw a single match on the ground close to my hand, I reached for it, struck it and tried to put it beneath the pieces of wood but I was out before I saw the plan through.   
I walked into a house, there we were, me and him, there was a family around a bed, all of them crying for some reason. I looked to my left, a little girl with long blond locks stood next to me.   
I'm sorry for them,” she said.  
“Don’t be,” I reassured her. “There’s a reason for everything.”  
“That woman by the bed, she’s devastated.”   
I looked to the woman, she was hugging a figure in her arms, I couldn’t see who she was holding. What she was holding was beyond my sight though the woman holding the figure was perfectly clear. I looked up at the window, there was a something there, it said nothing, didn’t move, the only thing that moved was its cloak.   
“It’s time to go,” the little girl said.  
I took her hand and we flew out of the house without a glance back.   
“Where are we going?” She asked me.  
“It doesn’t matter” I said.  
“Well done.”  
I looked up at the air it was turning bright gold, I stopped flying and watched her go on.

I woke up, I felt disorientated. The room was nice and warm, the flames were cackling as the fire danced around in the little fireplace. I got up and sat on the closest chair to take of my shoes. I lifted my foot and was about to untie my shoelaces when I noticed that in my hand I still had the match I lit to set the fire, it had burned out all the way, I rubbed my fingers together but luckily I wasn’t burned as I thought I would have been.   
I made some coffee and sat down looking at the snow while I had the fire behind me.   
I finished my coffee and as I put the cup down I heard that truck making its way to the cottage. I rinsed the cup and walked to the front door unlocked it and faced the cold outside. It’s Wednesday and Frank knows to get takeaways on a Wednesday since I spend the whole day with Gran and it’s the same for weekends. I took light breaths trying to avoid that cold knife stabbing into my throat. Coming from the heated house to the frozen air is like a punishment.   
The truck stopped and Frank climbed out. He had his cap on to cover the bald spot that he wasn’t proud of. He had black grey hair and didn’t like to shave. He wore his jumpers and as he walked to the front door he sunk in three time’s deeper into the snow than when I walked through it earlier. Frank had the food with him. He clearly hasn’t shaven and looked more homeless than kindles. His hands were dirty of grease and oil. I didn’t have anything of his in my own face, his nose was sharp and slightly flat, his eyes were dark brown and cold when he looked at me, he was big from all the beer but that didn’t seem to bother him.   
“Go get the rest,” he said without looking at me. I nodded and walked to his truck. I took out a few bags and carried them inside. I returned to his beaten up old truck and saw that he was drinking again tonight. I took a deep agonizing cold breath and hauled the bags out of the truck, intentionally shaking the beer bags before I went inside. Frank sat in front of the TV and ate something that smelled like freshwater fish. I packed away all the groceries and folded the bags before I got some food out of the fridge. I can’t stomach any kind of fish food other than sushi. It’s not that strange or unheard of, I know of a lot of kids who eat one yet not the other or both. I took out some pasta that I made Monday. I sat down on the sofa and ignored the springs sticking into me. We ate in silence. I didn’t look at Frank; instead I looked everywhere else.   
“Get me something to drink,” he barked and I cringed slightly. I stopped eating to get him a can of beer, in Frank’s case three cans. I lost my appetite as he started drinking and excused myself.   
“How much is that trip of yours?” he asked and I turned around to look at him, he looked annoyed at the subject. I looked at my father; his eyes seemed depthless and cruel.  
“Gran’s already paid for it,” I said hesitantly.   
“Has she paid for how you’re going to get there and back? I suppose someone has to pick you up after you’ve been dropped off?”  
I felt like I was being cornered, I didn't want to tell him and I couldn’t stay quiet. Either way he won’t like what comes from my mouth, be it the truth or a lie.  
“Yeah, Gran gave me a car to go with.”  
“Of course she has, she always does everything doesn’t she. I suppose she's probably going to buy you something expensive tomorrow for…. You’re a spoiled brat.” He said and crushed the can in his hand. I took a step back while nodding in agreement; every nerve in my body was tensed. I don’t want to say anything. He glared at me for a few moments, in his eyes I could see the dislike in what he saw, and it made me feel like some kind of disease. I took a few shaky breaths, if I just walked away he would be mad, though staying seems to be making him mad too. My body felt distant, I tried to think of anything that might happen now, anything that could happen and I didn’t like what my mind came up with.  
I imagined myself on an island in the middle of the ocean, surrounded by nothing except calm and clear blue skies. The water wasn’t void of life, instead I pictured two fishes lazily swimming around me, one was completely black and the other white. I used this as a place of comfort in my mind, it eases me around Frank, not always but it’s the thought that counts.  
Finally he grunted and took his attention back to his food. I slowly backed away and finally climbed the stairs to go to my room. I locked the door and sat down on the ground. He’s my father, I have to respect him, but he scares me all the time. I took a few deep breaths, calmed down and just stayed where I was. I couldn’t fall asleep, I wasn’t tired. I just sat there like a rag doll without purpose. After thirty minutes I started thinking how I was going to spend the night. I still had two essays to write for English and French. I only needed them finished next week but I think Friday would be a good time to get them of my back, though I'm not sure if they should be in next week or the one thereafter.   
It was three thirty; I finished the rough drafts of my essays and my math project. Before that I had gone ahead with other assignments we were going to get this week that I found in my textbooks. It’s cheating doing some of the work before we get to it but the main thing is that I understand it when I read it. I've never really had problems understanding the things I read or whatever our teachers explained to us. I just didn’t feel like doing the work when I was younger but that changed. Now I'm so focused on school work and getting my good grades. I plan on joining the archery club, I don’t have bad skills and I think I need to expand my school activity record.   
I closed my books and lay in bed until I fell asleep.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> this is his birthday but its going to change to a year older. thats one of the edits i still need to make.

16 

 

It’s not that different from being fifteen.   
I got up, I didn’t really sleep, I drifted in and out of consciousness but I never fell asleep. I took a shower and put on some clothes. I ate cereal and wasn’t at all surprised to find nothing congratulating me on my birthday from my father. Last night he came close to admitting that he does remember this day that represents my existence into the world but he stopped in time to not admit it.   
“Happy birthday Raven,” I said as I walked out of the cottage then I turned back to get a jacket, it was maximum cold temperatures today. I sneaked by Frank’s room and was careful not to make a sound. I tried to find my leather jacket but it was nowhere to be seen. I sighed and took my black and red hoody.   
It’s still dark outside; it felt a little creepy today, like there’s something wrong, I felt weird, like my body was tingling or something. I watched my breath as I walked; I pretended to be a smoker as all people do at some point in their life when it’s so cold. I concentrated on how long I could exhale. Then I pretended to be able to hold my breath in my hand. I stopped by the wishbone tree and looked up at the stars above. It was full moon and I always felt so energetic when I saw one. The full moon was special, I don’t know why; I just find the moon fascinating. My footsteps were a second too slow. Until now I've only assumed that my footsteps were weirdly loud, but I know for a fact that when I stopped there was a separate sound of footsteps that didn’t stop in time. I looked back to where I thought I heard the steps but there was nothing. I took a step back, trying to hear whatever I heard. There was nothing, then I thought about how there was not a single sound, no crickets or birds or anything. I looked to the side where I only now noticed that the part of the forest that always seemed to be darker and eerier was right there in my sight, again it sang to a part inside me. Telling me to come to it.  
I backed away slowly and then I tripped over something and fell in the snow. I heard a branch crack several meters away from me where I assumed the border between the dark and light forest resides. I looked at the place where I heard it. There’s something there I know it; I heard the steps as they sunk into the snow. They were very light though, I kept my head in the direction the steps were moving, my heart pounded madly in my chest. The steps were so close to me now but I could still not see the person. I knew that this person was within reaching distance, I had a feeling and it was odd. I lifted my hand and reached out to the bush, knowing that whatever was behind it wouldn’t hurt me. It wasn’t a person, it was something else. I tried to grasp whatever it was but once again sudden silence, no more snow muffled footsteps anymore. Around me the animals who were silent earlier suddenly found their vocal abilities. I got up without looking away from where the thing that had walked around me had been. It was too dark to see the marks left behind and I didn’t care. I snapped out of my curiosity kills the cat state and turned to walk to school. Why in hell did I think that whatever was there wouldn’t hurt me? Maybe there wasn’t even anything, it’s probably just my imagination to begin with. I have to admit, I'm very sure it’s my imagination, but my legs have ascended from a walk to a semi jog. I think my body understands that I don’t want to be late for school, that’s why it’s running right now. It has nothing to do with the fact that I'm hearing something running next to me on the other side of the borderline in the dark forest.   
I got to the road and for a second I felt like I was no more. I don’t know how to describe it, the world seemed blurry and I was gone from it. The feeling passed and I stood in the middle of the road again, I remembered the thing that had followed me and I turned around, ready to face whatever horror movie three eyed canine that was about to rip to shreds. There was no forest to face, I stood in the zebra crossing at school? How did I get here?   
Three eyed canine? Where did I come up with that? I noticed it getting severely colder. My body felt like it tingled, like there was a bell going of right against my skin, I looked around to see who was whispering but saw nobody, how did I end up here? For a few moments my brain wouldn’t respond to the problem. I had to move, but the initial drive to move was gone, I looked around, why was I in the middle of the road? Everything felt dim, I felt dim, I was trying to think of something but I didn’t know what, there was a slight nagging feeling, I was in the middle of the road and I had to do something now. What am I supposed to do? How did I even get here?  
I heard breaks slamming and the last thing I remember was the taste of burned rubber in the air. I wasn’t out long, I must have just lost consciousness during impact, I got up and saw that my arm had scathed over the pavement and was raw and bloody. I was between trees and bushes that weren’t so covered in snow anymore.   
“What are you doing standing in the middle of the road you retard!” the driver yelled. Ok, so I understand that I’m wrong in this situation for standing in the middle of the road but there is a whole list of questions you ask someone when you hit them with a car, such as:   
“Are you ok?”  
“Should I take you to the hospital?”  
“Do you have life insurance?”   
And their responses are normally:  
“Yeah man, I’m ok, don’t worry this kinda thing happens to me all the time.”  
“Nah, the bleeding will stop, just get me a towel and maybe a bucket.”  
“No life insurance but I have like fifty smackers in my wallet.”

Clearly when you drive a Lamborghini then those questions aren’t the first thing on your mind, the condition of the car is more important than the condition of the bastard you ran over.   
I saw a decent looking rock by my foot, picked it up and threw the guy with it. Heard it hit him and walked on. Either he’s in shock from being thrown by a stranger or he’s unconscious. I don’t have any shame in walking away from a dumbass, I do it frequently enough with my dad. I finally got to the school grounds and felt slightly relieved. I walked to my locker and considered finding the guy to apologize, though I never saw him, though I would probably recognize his car. I'm just going to leave it alone. I’m more concerned about my blank moment in the middle of the road.  
Sometimes my brain seems to be so distracted by something unbeknownst to me, that my responses are completely shut off. I told Gran about it once, she was visibly concerned and I told her about it every time it happened. I know it’s bothering her; I’m not stupid, I've noticed that the interval between my brain lag sessions has been getting shorter.   
I try not to think of it too much. I just hope it’s not a serious thing. I want to graduate before some foreign illness takes me. Maybe I should go to university first.   
I opened my locker and nearly chocked in the fumes that came from it. I must have put my spray in upside down or something to make it go trigger happy. That was my initial assumption until I saw the package inside the locker. I took it out, the wrapping was plain, white with silver words saying ‘happy birthday’ repeatedly all over the paper. I looked around; I saw nobody keeping an eye on me or acting suspiciously. I opened the package carefully in case it was some kind of prank. Inside was a dark grey scarf. I examined it and immediately liked it. It was a soft fur carefully woven to look extremely smooth. At the one tip there were three lines, black red and black again. On the other side just two, black and red. I tied it around my neck and it stretched to my knees. I tried to see if the culprit responsible was around but nobody acted peculiar, I wonder who went through the effort of getting me this. I have to admit that I'm impressed, somebody managed to get inside my locker and give me a gift. Then again I'm going to have to do something about that locker access detail.   
Dmitri made his usual loud entrance, trying to be everybody best friend as he walks by them. I rolled my eyes. He finally reached me.  
“Cool scarf man,” he said clearly not thinking about the cafeteria event yesterday, I didn’t let it bother me either. There are greater things in life to concern myself with, like…  
Death  
Like Gran’s death though that is something I only need to worry about when I start university, she promised. I’m looking forward to another afternoon with Gran.   
“Happy birthday,” Naomi said suddenly next to me, she gave me a package and I could feel that it was a piece of clothing.  
“You didn’t have to,” I said.  
“Yeah Naomi, why did you?” Dmitri asked annoyed.  
“Shut up Dmitri, why does it matter, it’s not like your dating or anything is it?” I saw him go red.  
“No, no. your right,” he turned away and muttered something about the bathroom and then he was gone.  
“You’d think with some of the things I say he would have realized by now,” I said as we watched him disappear. “Not the brightest is he?” I added and Naomi giggled, at that moment I looked up and saw Ashe from a distance. I felt guilty standing here with Naomi, like I was a cheater or something, but for some reason Ashe was smiling, it was the smile I imagined yesterday, that was special and made my stomach flip.   
She was out of sight and I remembered that I was busy opening the gift from Naomi.  
I took out a blue shirt from the wrapping and examined it; there was a blood soaked rose on it at the lower left corner. It was a little morbid but it was a nice shirt, the blue was a dark blue that would make way for the contrasting red and white.  
I walked to biology, Ms. whitely told me to wait for ten minutes before I could go in.   
“Good luck,” I said to everyone as they walked in, when they saw me still outside they went pale. I felt my phone vibrating in my pocket and I answered it since I was outside  
“Why are you answering your phone? Are you bunking?” Gran yelled out at me.  
“No, I’m on my way to class now and why are you phoning me when you know I’m in school?”  
“Your first class has already started and I'm your Grandmother, I'm old and senile, I can do whatever I want,” she said.  
“I don’t think it works like that but yeah, I’m waiting outside to be granted permission back inside.”  
“Why are you outside? What did you do?”   
“It’s nothing bad! Why do you think I did something?”  
“Are you failing the class?”  
“No!”  
“What class is it you’re bunking?” She demanded, I sighed.  
“Biology.”  
“You’re failing biology?”  
“I already said I'm not failing it.”  
“Why not, it’s a stupid subject.”  
‘What?” I asked.   
“Why aren’t you failing biology?”  
“Wait, what? You want me to fail a subject?”  
“It would be a nice change from your straight A grades I keep seeing.”  
“How are you seeing them? I’ve never shown you any of my report cards and you never ask to see them.”  
“I have the school send me a copy.”  
“You’re doing what now?”  
“It’s not such a big deal, in any case, happy birthday my dear Grandson,” she said.  
“Thanks Gran.”  
“I’m just reminding you that you’re not going to that house after school, you’re coming to mine.”  
“Ok, cool. See you then Gran.”  
“Very well. Happy birthday.” she said again.  
“Thanks Gran,” I hung up and as I did somebody came walking up the corridor.   
He had dark hair that was smoothly waxed to the side, he wore a t-shirt and jeans, the t-shirt alone surprised me since it’s so damn cold that even I’m wearing a jacket. He looked up at me and then seemed purpose driven.   
“Hey you!” he yelled and I decided that I don’t like him, though I did feel a little sorry for him, he had a bruise on his face, it looked fresh.   
“What’s up?” I asked.   
“I'm looking for this class,” he handed me a paper and I examine it.  
“Ok, so you’re going to go left here, up the stairs, take a right and it should be the fifth classroom on your right side.”  
“Ok, could you write that down for me?” he gave me a piece of paper.  
“What happened to your face?” I asked.   
“What? Oh, it’s none of your business,” he said.  
“Information for information,” I said and gave him back his piece of paper. He contemplated for a second and then returned the paper to me.  
“This morning I was driving here, and I don’t know if you’ve noticed but there’s a curve here right in front of a badly placed zebra crossing.”  
“Oh shit,” I said as it dawned on me what he was about to say.  
“Yeah, so I was kind of going fast around that corner when there was somebody in the road and I had to slam on my brakes. I think I hit him but it’s like panic man I wasn’t really thinking that straight and eventually I got thrown in the face with a rock. I hope he’s ok. “  
“Damn,” was all I could manage to say.  
“I'm just glad it wasn’t my eye,” he said and then took the directions I had written down and walked “bye.”  
I breathed as he went up the stairs and then I burst into laughter.   
After I had my laughing fit I went into class and Ms whitely started the lecture after she had the whole class congratulate me with my birthday.   
I had French after that and took my seat.  
Ms. Delphne, our eccentric French teacher started by wishing me a happy birthday and then continued to say that I was going to be sharing my table that I've had for myself since I started her class.   
“This is Jason Isis, he’s going to be sitting next to you,” she said but I looked behind me to see who was whispering behind my back.   
Jason looked at me, grinned and then proceeded to sit down.  
“Jason Isis,” he introduced himself to me in a matter-of-fact-tone that somehow implied that I respect it.  
I grudgingly shook his hand “Raven.”  
“What, no surname?” he mocked me.  
I clenched my teeth and bit my tongue.  
“Raven is my surname,” you dimwit.  
“Then what’s your real name,” he said and I had the slightest feeling that he also kept himself from adding a comment at the end of his sentence.  
“Simon,” I said.   
“But if your name is Simon then why be called Raven?”  
“I don’t know, it just caught on, since forever.”  
“That’s stupid, being called by your surname instead of your real name.”  
“Not when you can get away with it. You can’t if you have a crappy surname, like I don’t know, maybe one like Isis or- oh wait that’s your surname, I’m sorry.”  
“Still, it’s stupid.”  
“You would know,” I mumbled.  
“What did you say?”  
“Me? What, I didn’t say nothing”  
“You’re weird” he said and I could feel the insult.   
“Well see the worry in my eye,” I replied.   
“You know if I were you I would treat me better,” I felt the threat in his voice like he meant it.  
“Yeah, I doubt that, I am me and I don’t plan on treating you too differently.” I said and opened my text book and ignored his glare even though I wanted nothing more than to poke his eyes out with a pencil. I don’t know why I don’t like him, but I don’t.   
Someone came running into the class, spoke to Ms. Delphene and she nodded.  
“Attention class, Mr. Carne asks you to kindly remember that tomorrow is the sophomore day out. Remember to bring your water bottles and supplies, also no alcohol will be permitted on the premises neither will smoking, if you are caught...” she continued and I drowned out her voice.  
I already paid to go, with the idea that Dmitri and the others were also coming, but they decided that they would rather go to the movies and told me this after I paid for the stupid trip so I’m going to be alone. I felt slightly irritated as I thought about how the convenience of their timing, or deliberation of it. Wow, some friends I have, their super! In their defense, I don’t give a shit.  
After I made my round at the dumpster I went to go eat lunch with Naomi and the others. I walked by our school jock’s table and noted that Jason Isis had been introduced to it. Seems fitting.   
Look, its birdman Raven!” Billy – school jock – yelled out.  
“Wow that probably took a whole day to come up with, well done,” I said and continued walking, I’m not scared of Billy, I have Frank. Baby cat Billy say hello to full grown lion Frank. Billy’s nothing.   
I sat down and noted the two tables still unattended, like they were mocking me. I said nothing.   
After my last class I headed to the lower gate, Gran time. I just have one thing against walking to Gran’s house and it’s that it has to be a stealth mission. If one dog, just one sees me, it’s a bark alarm that spreads faster than wildfire. I don’t know what I did to dogs to make them hate me so much, not just these dogs but dogs in general. No dog likes me. It’s like the congregation of dogs came together, put up a huge ass photo of me and texted dogs all over the world with the media image saying something like a new commandment for dogs:   
‘Thou shall not like this person. Thou shall bark crazily with foam on thy mouth and attempt to break the gates of thy home to try and attack this person. Thou shall even break thy greatest commandment amongst dogs and not be distracted by a cat.”  
It’s like I've been classified as public enemy number one. Those dogs better have sent out a good damn photo of me. I saw a white cat and remembered the day I had to hide in a tree once when a Rottweiler came after me and I had to run like hell for safety, that little white cat kept me company for the thirty minutes it took the fire department to hose the dog down until they gave up and called a dogcatcher who had to use a tranquilizer after the dog ripped his net to pieces and started barking again.  
I was at the last turn and looked up, a woman with bleached hair was getting out of her car with a chi Wawa clutched between her breasts. Well I think it’s a chi Wawa because she’d be too terrified to be holding anything else that looks like a rat in her twins. Not that I could see the dog –if you can call something the size of a computer mouse a dog – it was sort of being swallowed between her ‘milkshake makers’, the only thing I saw was a little tail wagging that emerged from beneath her double D’s. Both of those silicone D’s. I heard that Barbie girl song from a few year ago and though it the appropriate song for her ringtone. DD pulled out a glittering pink phone from beneath the wagging tail and I will not comment on that since I know of only one area to put anything that close to a tail.   
I got a little closer thinking that nothing could happen because the little dog is practically being eaten alive by cup D and D. Then that little wagging tail suddenly went still. Like the dog knew I was getting close, but it couldn’t be that. There’s just no way. Then the tail began shaking, not wagging, shaking. A head popped up from between Barbie’s two big twins and that little rat like dog looked right at me. At first I thought he was smiling, if I was that dog right now I would be smiling, but then I realized, he was baring his teeth at me. It has to be my face. There’s probably some dog can only see and read writing on my face that says attack on sight.   
The little runt jumped from Barbie’s set of twins and once he touched the ground he bolted for me like a bullet as fast as his little five centimeter legs could carry him. I wanted to get the hell out, but I mean, who runs from a dog the size of golf ball?  
That little thing didn’t stop to bark at me, instead it went straight at my shoe and I realized the real question was what idiot doesn’t run from a dog the size of a golf ball? The little demon dog tried to pull me apart starting with my shoes.  
“Princes, what are you doing!” bleach hair screamed and tried to cross the street but she hadn’t figured out the whole high heels on an uneven surface trick yet.   
I tried shaking my foot but the spawn of evil didn’t let go and I watched as it shook from left to right without letting go.  
“What are you doing!” bleach yelled at me.  
“I’m trying to keep my shoes. I love these shoes. What do you think I should do?!” I yelled and her majesty on my foot growled.  
“You’re going to hurt princes!”  
“If princes doesn’t let go I’m going to dethrone her into bubblegum and step on her.  
“That’s not the right thing to do. It not the Christian thing to do.”  
“Oh, really? You’re pulling that on me. Your dog is trying to eat me one toe at a time. What do you want me to do? Pray that she enjoys the meal?”  
“What would Jesus do?” she said and her eyes brightened up, like she had hit a bull’s eye and that I would definitely not hurt her little rat dog now.   
I looked at bleach hair and put on a super understanding expression, like I had just received guidance from above, she looked hopeful, behind her the little white cat watched and I smiled at it.   
I lifted my foot and princes didn’t let go, she hung there like her teeth had been glued to my shoe. What a grip. I held my two index fingers over one another and then pointed the cross it made at the ‘dog.’  
“Be gone Satan!” I yelled out loud, “return back to the fiery pits of hell where you belong.”   
I looked up to see what Barbie thought about my spiritual act and to my horror Barbie was no longer Barbie. Heels off, nails out, Barbie had just turned into some kind of monster with long bleached hair. Ha! I got it. Barbie just turned into jaws. I think I might have offended her.  
I started swinging my foot in a kick like motion.  
“How dare you!” jaws said as she stalked over the road.  
“I’m sorry, exorcisms not my specialty,” I tried harder to get princess of by swinging my foot. She continued to growl.  
“You horrible little child.”  
“Ha you sound just like my dad, you two should get together.”  
The best thing to do would be to leave the shoes but there’s no way, these shoes have been tough since Gran gave them to me. They were tacky enough to look cool, they’ve gone through mud, water, sand, gears and chi Wawa’s with me and still look and smell super. Normally a shoe smells like the undead after you’ve gone through water with them. These guys are tough.  
I made a super hard swing and princess didn’t let go. So I decided on the next best thing. I tried to pry the little demon dog of my shoe with my hands. With Jaws almost upon me, I had to be quick. I got the rat of my shoe and then I held her up right in my left arm and made a motion of throwing her while she barked like a crazed dog in my ear. I felt the white foam as it fell on my face and neck and shirt. What annoyed me was now that she barked, all the other dogs started barking, like there was a specific bark frequency and when you broadcast on that frequency it starts the neighborhood of barking.   
“Go long,” I said and jaws’ eyes widened.  
“You wouldn’t,” she said.   
“Challenge accepted.” I titled my head looked jaws in the face and threw the dog.   
“Princess!” she yelled and ran as fast her little mini skirt would let her.   
I scrammed. So now I need to find a new route to Gran’s house. No doubt the animal cruelty department people will be on the lookout for me now.   
I made it to Gran’s house.  
The door stood ajar, I figured she was probably busy painting or doing something like that.  
“Simon is that you!” she yelled out as I walked in the front door.  
“Yip, it’s me,” ignoring the creepy factor of how she knew.   
She appeared out of nowhere and held out her arms and then hugged me.  
“Happy birthday, get in the car, it’s yours now, let us go to the cave to celebrate.”  
She rushed me as we drove, I couldn’t even appreciate my gift from her though I'm sure there should be paper work involved or something. She turned up the music before she started coughing. We reached the parking spot and departed for her crazy Gran obsession. 

The training dummy was very lifelike. It had arms and legs, and its substance was from a kind of synthetic that was so close to skin that it was creepy, I called him Franky.  
Franky began to spin, the whole point of the exercise was to make me hit joints on Franky’s body while he is moving, this teaches my brain to fight a moving enemy though I don’t expect anyone I ever fight to be spinning in a circle but there’s only so much I can do.   
I took deep breaths; I've split four arrows so far, just one more and it will be my own personal best. I pulled the string back with my left hand, I focused and I know they call it tunnel vision. Gran sat on a chair with a cup of hot cocoa. I could feel her eyes on my wrist, on the tattoo there. When I was fourteen I somehow convinced a tattoo guy to give me a tattoo on my wrist free of charge. It was fine detailed work on his behalf, a quarter moon with the Chinese symbol for balance in the arch of the moon. Inside the moon were very fine lines that looked like an “H” but the legs were curved inward and the line that connected them went straight through. It represents my star sign: Pisces. It was a very elegant tattoo and I'm not regretting it, though I had to wear a watch over it until Gran approached me one day and said that she wanted to see what the tattoo look like because ever since I got it I've been wearing a watch for some reason. It’s like there’s nothing she misses.   
I let my breath go and so my arrow. In that split second where my arrow was suspended in midair it felt like time slowed down, like I could visually zoom in on the arrow and predict its final destination. Time moved again and the arrow missed my intended target by a millimeter. I sighed.   
“I think that that was just as good as the original” Gran said.  
“Nope, it’s not,” I said and heard her sigh.  
“Here you go then,” she said and gave me my gloves I practiced on the dummies with.  
“I don’t understand why you have to be so hard on yourself, I don’t think it matters that much if you fail to surpass your record.”  
“It matters to me,” I said and climbed up to do the beam. Gran doesn’t mind a mistake here and there but I think that the more I do the faster I get use to it, if I condition my mind like this then it can only benefit.   
The beam seemed smaller today, I'm sure Gran replaces it every now and again with a smaller beam, I struggled to maintain my balance but got the hang of it soon enough. I tipped forward and stood on my hands, I moved forward without lowering my body, I took another hand step forward and moved my legs to experiment my balancing abilities. I finally found that center and concentrated, my watch was on my left arm, the tattoo on my right. I decided to keep the left arm ‘grounded’ and very carefully lifted my right. I trickle of sweat ran down my face, careful breaths I've been trying this one hand stand for a while but today I finally found that balance. The hard part was coming, lowering my feet curving my back, keeping the balance and then doing a flip. I began lowering my feet, when I stopped completely. My breaths began to quicken, I didn’t know what to do. I looked around with my eyes, I was busy with a handstand, I had to get up right, but I don’t know how to do it. I didn’t know how to lower my feet, I couldn’t and no understanding came to mind. How was I going to do this? After so many attempts and now I can’t remember. Something fell out of my pocket, I looked to see what it was, just a penny I looked back as another trickle of sweat fell on the beam, I tried moving my left hand but it lost its grip, the beam hit me in the face and everything went white.

The laws are the same, for everything there must be a balance. However, there are some things that cannot be balanced out but instead balance themselves out. The laws are all the same.   
I had to run, things couldn’t be any worse than this. I finally saw my destination, I reached it and suddenly nothing made sense anymore. 

“Why is this happening now?”   
Her voice sounded like it was coming from the far side of a tunnel.  
“I did everything, it shouldn’t be happening at all!” She said again, I could hear she was stressed, I tried to move my hands but couldn’t.   
“Unless, it means that the power is weakening and that would mean that I’m... Wake up Simon dear, open your eyes, it’s me. You’re scaring me child, wake up!”  
I took a deep breath and found my body again, I looked up at Gran, her hands were on my head. I could feel that I had been sweating.   
“Hey Gran,” I said and noticed that I was shivering, it wasn’t that cold but I couldn’t stop it at all.  
“Your awake, that’s good.”  
“What happened,” I sat up straight and looked at the beam. “Did I fall?”   
“No honey, you said that you didn’t feel well, so you climbed down and then fainted just as you reached the ground”  
I held my head, I remember a different story. I felt my face, the beam hit me so I should have a bruise or something, but there was nothing.   
“What’s wrong?” she asked.  
“I fell.”  
“Yes, when you were down.”  
“No, I fell from up there. I was going to, but I’d forgotten what I was doing, like this morning.”  
“You had an episode this morning?”  
I said nothing; I just looked down at the ground then after a few minutes I looked at Gran.  
“What’s happening to me?” I asked and I felt a little scared.  
“Nothing bad is happening to you, as a matter of fact, I'm afraid that your little momentary stupidity episodes will probably be gone sooner than you think. Shall we go get you something from the kitchen; I don’t think there is any law against eating good food twice a week”  
“I fell from up there,” I said sure of myself.  
“You didn’t,” she insisted.  
We had a stare of, but I wasn’t going to lose, I’m 99% sure that I was up there.  
“Then how aren’t you hurt, if you fell from up there? How would I have been able to catch you, if you hit your face against the beam, there is not a mark on you to confirm it”  
Then there’s that 1% of uncertainty that seems to be the one that mattered in this case.   
“Ok, you win” I said and got up. She helped me up, I took her hand and for a second it felt like something reached into my head and just planted itself there. I’m losing it.   
“Where to child” she asked. It took a moment for me to get my thoughts together. What was that just now? I saw the concerned look on her face.   
“Home” I said and we walked the way to the car. I kept thinking about how I fell, Gran has a point, if I did fall, where’s the proof? With the height I would have broken something and my face didn’t have any bruises or such where I hit the beam head on. I considered it for a second then I thought of something, did I tell her about the beam and my face? I'm not sure I did, I don’t even remember how I would have said it to her but I didn’t have a bruise so clearly what Gran said is true. I held my hand against my face, I couldn’t explain it, but something felt weird, it was as though touching my face made my body tingle.   
We went to Gran’s house. I parked the car, I really am tempted to take it home but with Frank and everything it would be a better idea to leave it here and get it tomorrow before school.   
“Come inside,” Gran said and I did. “You want me to make you something to eat?”  
“Toasted cheese please,” I said and grinned as she rolled her eyes.  
“I can cook anything in the world and that’s what you ask of me?”  
“I know, but since I could remember you’ve always made me melted cheese bread. I just can’t help it.”  
She smiled that Gran is happy to hear this news smile and cut some cheese on a slice of bread placed it in the microwave and after a few seconds she took it out and handed it to me.  
“Have you ever been inside it?” Gran asked then looked at me. “The midnight hotel?”  
“No, I only thought that you would be amongst the few select rich people to be able to afford to go in, this conversation is random.”  
“When was the first time you saw it?” She asked and I found it an odd question.  
“It’s always been there Gran, I've always seen it. What kind of a question is that?”   
“Would you like some wine?” she asked and I knew she was changing the topic, but if Gran wants to change the topic then I won’t disregard her decision.  
We enjoyed Grans expensive wine and it slowly went to my head. At least I'm a wise wine drinker thanks to her. When I grew up Gran made me do a whole lot of things, this acrobatics gymnastics phase is only of many prior to it. I think there will probably be even more after this one although I have to admit, the one we are in now isn’t that bad. I don’t mind, I don’t care that Gran is wealthy, her house is just one of the many clear proofs of that statement, Gran has always been good to me, she fills that void that my mom couldn’t fill. It’s not my mother’s fault, its mine, if not for me then she would still be alive and maybe Frank would be a better person. I have to forgive him, he’s my father and he still kept me after my birth even though it cost him the one person that he loves. As far as I know he and Gran never saw eye to eye, I suppose Gran blames Frank and not me, not directly.   
I remember when I was younger, she would sometimes look at me like Frank does, but in time she’s probably forgiven me and decided to give me affection and not damnation. I do what I can to please her because she loves me even though I’m the reason she lost her daughter.   
“Hey Gran, I’m going to go,” I said, suddenly feeling kinda sad.  
“We could always have you spend the night, I'm sure your father won’t mind it.”  
“I'm sure he won’t, but if I stay the night I won’t get any sleep and we have that walk thing tomorrow and I need to be up early and be well prepared for the day.”  
“Simon,” she said knowing something is wrong.  
“Ok, I want to go to the cave and practice a little more.”  
“I knew you were lying, though I applaud your determination, after your incident today I’d rather you not go there on your own yet. Promise me you won’t go there on your own.”   
I nodded, I didn’t want to go anyway so the promise was sincere and I didn’t have to convince her.   
I spent a few more hours with Gran then I finally started off to the cottage.  
I let myself in and it was a few minutes before seven. I had a sudden cold chill run down my spine and an odd wave of nausea hit me. I took breaths but it felt like the room was spinning. I got to the sofa and lay down with my hand over my head. I remember when I was thirteen; I drank a bottle of whisky from Franks supply and was so drunk that I had a similar feeling when I lay down. The trick was to keep one foot on the ground and a hand against a wall, this way you’re creating the illusion of stability. I tried it but it didn’t help. This was a different sensation, like something inside me was building up; it made me feel like vomiting but it would end up in only dry heaves. I took short breaths and felt the darkness of unconsciousness seep in. I let it take me. The last thing I remember was Frank’s clock booming that it was seven.   
The reality of it is that I can’t raise the dead, it is a crime against nature, so I won’t take you up on that offer, but you knew this already didn’t you. You know that I will not act against that which defines me. Either way it would be wrong for both of us. It won’t work out no matter what decision I make. Thanks though  
I stood beneath the beam, looking up at myself. It felt like I was watching someone else. His expression went blank and soon after his arms gave in and he hit his head on the beam. Oh god I can’t let him die! I held my hand out right as he was within my range. He stopped and I lowered him to the ground. His face had a deep gash where the beam had hit him, I should have thought about a softer curved beam but honestly he’s never had an episode while I’m around. I put my hand on his face and the wounds began to heal. 

My eyes opened and the sick feeling was gone and done with. It was darker outside so I must have been out a while. I heard something in the kitchen, Frank’s home. I got up to find out what he’s looking for before he disorganizes the kitchen.  
I stopped dead in my tracks, Frank wouldn’t have walked in and let me stay out on the sofa, he would have yelled at me for doing nothing and then would have told me to get whatever he has in the truck and bring it inside. I looked outside, the truck wasn’t here and after sixteen years I've learned that when Frank parks his truck it’s always in the same spot wherever we live.   
It’s not Frank inside the kitchen, it’s someone else.   
I scanned the room for any object that could possibly be used to beat someone to death, if it came down to a fight I would fight to the end, if I really did kill the person I would take the body and simply dump it in the forest, that would suffice. Whatever animals lingered there might take kindly to me for feeding them.  
“No, this is still too early,” there was a pause. “Oh…I remember this moment.”  
I picked up a spoon and ran yelling like an Indian on a warpath with everything I had into the kitchen stabbing with the back end of the spoon and feeling like a complete moron when there was no one to be stabbed.  
But I heard someone.  
Maybe I’m going crazy.  
I looked down at my weapon, really? A spoon, was I really going to try and kill someone with a spoon, what if he had something like a gun or sword? I wonder if I can stop bullets with a spoon. Maybe I can convince Frank to hold the spoon while I use a gun to test out the theory. Since Frank will be holding the spoon I’ll make sure to have a gun that’s safe to use, maybe a shotgun or a machine gun, it’ll have to be one that won’t miss. I’ll only have one chance to hit and I wouldn’t want to miss my target, then after I’ve hit my target I can try shooting the spoon. My phone buzzed and I took it out but for a second my hands were dumb and the damn thing fell on the ground and automatically went to speaker phone – something I need to get fixed- and a voice spoke.  
“Hello, are you there? I know you answered, answer me, I swear if your ignoring me I'm going to beat you up Raven.”  
I hesitated for a second.  
“William?”  
“No, we agreed that I’ll be called.”  
“Will!” I yelled and picked the phone up.  
“How are you?”   
“I thought you died,” I said and felt an odd sense of joy at hearing my best friend’s voice after so long.  
“Died from what?” he asked.  
“Is stupidity a disease?”  
“No.”  
“I think it should be in your case,” then I thought about something. “How did you get my number?”  
“My mom finally got your Grandmothers number and thus we now have your number!”  
“Wow, took you long enough.”  
“At least I phoned, though my mom made a point of me remembering because of that stupid pact we had.”  
“Where we promised each other that we’d be there to congratulate the other on his sixteenth. It seems kind of stupid, neither of us actually bothered to think about the fact that one of us might be moving.”  
“We were nine?”  
“Still” I said and we continued the discussion for thirty minutes. Will and I are like those two friends who never get bored, we would even talk about stupid things that really didn’t mean anything. I think every person in the world should have that one friend that is more than a brother, not a lover, just “your person”. We could talk about literally anything and everything. Since we became friends there was no going back.   
“Oh, before I forget, the whole purpose of this call, happy birthday idiot,” he said when we finally decided to end the conversation.  
“Thanks, but don’t be a jackass, we have to keep in touch, this side of the world is so boring I find myself looking at paint drying for entertainment.”  
“Are you kidding me? That’s the best! Cheers nerd”  
“Bye moron” I said laughing and he hung up. I couldn’t help grinning. It was a nice surprise. I heard Franks truck from a distance and decided that not even Frank could spoil my mood, I went outside to greet him.   
“Hey dad,” I said and he just looked at me and walked in. I got the bags from the truck and carried them inside. He was standing in front of the fireplace.  
“I work an entire day while your of doing God knows what with that old woman, then I get home an you couldn’t even bother to start a fire?!”  
“I’ll get on it right away,” I said motivated.  
“Don’t bother,” he said and tried to start the fire on his own. He lit a match but it died as soon as it ignited. The next five did the same; they didn't even give enough time to get close to the wood. Frank threw the matches at me and walked to the kitchen.  
I sat in front of the fireplace and took a match, in my head I imagined that I was ‘the one’ who would create fire where all those before me failed. Me caveman, me superior caveman, me create fire. I took out a match, thinking how awesome I was with my ‘the one’ powers, the guy the universe deemed would start fire. I was about to strike the match against the box when it felt like a sensation was running through my arm. The match ignited and I jumped up and dropped it between the pieces of wood. Though impossible, the wood caught flame and the room heated up. I looked at my fingers, the black smudge marks were there, I thought about yesterday, I lit a fire but I never remember getting the match there.   
Frank returned to the room and looked at the fire, there was something, I couldn’t explain it but he looked disgusted.   
“Fire started,” I said and sat down. Frank didn’t eat; he sat and drank his beer. I was distracted so I didn't care. I thought about the strangeness of things lately. I imagined that I was just beginning to hit the long term effects of insomnia though it’s never been a bother like this before. My headaches and my idiot moments. I thought about how Will had phoned for my birthday. I stared into the fire, I felt slightly entranced. I began thinking about Gran, her cancer made my stomach feel hollow. I momentarily zoned out, the fire mesmerized me but I snapped back to reality when I heard Frank get up.   
“You killed her!” He yelled and I looked up at him, his eyes were bloodshot and watery. “If it wasn’t for you, she’d still be alive!”  
“I’m sorry,” I said and looked at him. I briefly saw his watch and immediately looked at the house clock, it was ten thirty? Where did seven go? What happened to those three hours and thirty minutes in between? How did I lose that time?  
“That ring you wearing, it belonged to your mother,” he yelled out suddenly and I got up and slowly backed away. I forgot to take the ring off after practice. I don’t even take note when I put it on, but Frank hates seeing me wearing this ring. I put my hand over the ring and tried to remove it.  
“Give it here,” he demanded and held out his hand.  
“No!” I said and held his gaze; he took a few steps closer to me shoving anything in his way to the side  
“Give me that goddamned ring,” he said and his breaths became short and controlled but I still kept his gaze.  
“No, I won’t. It’s all I have of her, you won’t take it from me.” I said and clenched my jaw.   
“You have no right to wear anything of hers. Do you think that you deserve any keepsakes?” He charged at me.   
Happy birthday.


	4. the trip

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I get it. That first thing with Lady Es was a conundrum because thats it. So this chater is to remind people that hey, there is supposed to be somethg magical about this story, as in there is magic. its not going to be a beauty and te beast kind of magical. people will find themselves on the dead side of...dead. This chapter is just to remind about the first part of the book. Spoilers, nothing epic happens. Lol.

The trip

I woke up, didn’t even bother eating, I just showered, packed my bag and headed out. I had to get up even earlier since I was getting Gran’s car. Normally on a normal day in any normal situation that is normal, I would have just gotten up at my normal time, walked my normal pace and would have still been in time. But instead I got up earlier and to make things worse I had to restrict my movement and be extra careful, my shoulders were stiff and sore, my stomach was the biggest problem, I had to be careful not to bend it too much, or breath too deep otherwise it hurt to the max.  
No dogs saw me today, I got to Gran’s mansion, found the car parked outside already and went inside using my spare key.  
There was a note next to the cup of coffee. She was out for a business conference and would be back only tomorrow.   
I had a whole thirty minutes of spare time before I had to go. I needed them to find a peace of mind. I let the silence of the empty house sink in; I heard small steps on the table.  
“Hey bob,” I said and looked on the table to see Gran’s big fat cat walking on the table. He stopped right in front of me and lay down.   
“Today I’m going to see all of your big brothers and sisters, isn’t that cool?” I thought about it for a minute, “I’m talking to a cat,” he just purred. I lay my head on the table and was leveled with him. He looked like he was frowning.  
“In Egypt there is a debate whether cats were worshiped or simply pets that were highly regarded,” I said like he could understand.  
“I think that at some point cats probably ruled us, then we thought to take that power and now you guys just treat us the same. A cat owns you, not the other way around.”   
Bob just purred and looked pleased. I winced slightly as I began laughing, bob looked curious, like he was frowning.  
“Bob, I wish I could talk to you about this,” I said and lifted my shirt to show him the dark bruises all over my body. “It’s my fault, I forgot to take my ring off,” I said and showed bob the ring around my neck, he hissed at me.  
“Yeah I know, it was stupid of me, if I had taken it off then it would have never provoked him.” I shook my head at my own stupidity but bob jumped down from the table and started walking away. It’s strange, I know how a cat looks when it’s aggravated, clearly bob is. Does he understand?  
One.  
I let the remaining minutes go by and eventually got ready for the trip. We were going to a wildlife preserve. There we would see some animals of the wild that are being held in captivity to ensure their survival. I am particularly looking forward to seeing some of the wild cats; I don’t care for any of the other animals: cats have always intrigued me above other animals.   
I took some food out of Grans pantry for the day and then headed to school. I stopped next to the school bus. It’s a good thing that we are allowed to use our own means of transport, I hate the bus. I looked around in the hope of seeing any of my friends, I didn’t see a single one of them. I don’t see how going to the movies can be more worthwhile than seeing wild animals. The movies will always be there, but a lion now that you don’t see every day, hence wildlife preserve. I started walking to the group of kids who were excited to go. We really are a big group this year.   
“Raven!”   
“Hey Nick, what’s up?”  
“Man I am excited for this trip. It’s going to be epic, where are the others?”  
“They’re bunking this trip.”  
“That’s bad man; I wouldn’t want to miss this.”  
“Exactly my point!”  
“So you should sit with us in the bus man.”  
“I have transport,” I said and pointed at the car.  
“Sweet bro.” he looked at the car then back at me, “but walk with us today, don be all loner like cause that won’t be cool.”  
“Good idea, getting caught alone wouldn’t benefit me at all.” I said and saw the teachers making their way to us. “Here we go.”  
I took a final look around, though this time I wasn’t looking for any of my traitor friends; I was looking to see if I could spot Ashe. I saw her, she was wearing a white top that hung over her shoulder, her hair was tied in a pony but it looked untamed though it was intentionally styled this way. She walked with Jessica and they were giggling about something, her happy face made me feel happy and I held on to that feeling as I got into the car, in that last second before I looked away, she looked at me and my stomach went hollow. Jessica pulled Ashe and the moment ended all too soon. Ms. Whitely came to my window  
“Stay right behind us, don’t get lost,” she said and I nodded trying not to hold my breath too openly against her smoker breath.   
I followed the bus, it was a relatively far journey but we finally got there after forty five minutes of driving with no traffic. Billy and his lot were several cars behind me. I saw other kids take us by probably knowing where to go. I just stayed behind the bus because it was safer for me than to get lost and because Jessica was driving behind me and I stole glances of Ashe in my rear view mirror.  
“Ok, now everybody, were going to be leaving at two so we can avoid traffic. Stick together and don’t wander off by yourselves. As for the groups, when you do disappear on your own, at twelve were going to eat by the food joint next to the lemurs, be there and from there on stay close by. Remember no alcohol is allowed in here and if you’re going to smoke illegally don’t get caught.” I smiled at Ms. whitely for that comment. She is nothing if not blunt.   
We entered the wildlife preserve and paid our admission fees.   
I was getting really excited.   
There was a guy who introduced himself as Henry Smith and he was going to be our guide. The tour started ten minutes later when all of us were finally inside and paid for. He started us of with bats and fish, I paid little attention, the animals I was most excited to see where last on the tour so I tried to hide my impatience by looking at the present animals but I guess that they didn’t like me. Every time I tried to get a better look at them, they would just back away from me. You’d think that they would be accustomed to humans by now. I was busy taking photos with the camera Gran bought me last month; I didn’t really fancy the animals, so I took photos of everyone instead.  
“Awesome or what?” Nick noted next to me.   
“I can’t wait to see the wild cats,” I admitted to him.  
“That’s going to be insane man,” he agreed and we talked as the tour went on. I knew nick because I gave him with extra math classes last year because he couldn’t keep up. I got to know him and his sister Nicolette who asked me to help her too. After his grades improved he started building more confidence in his skills and once he adopted my study methods I didn’t need to help him out anymore. There’s still the odd occasion when he’ll ask me to help him with something but they are rare.   
The two of us made time go by faster by simply not paying attention and having our own animated discussions about the animals.   
We ended our private discussion when we agreed that snakes were sore losers who had legs and arms once but lost a match against the lemurs in a jumping competition and in a sore loser tantrum threw the lemurs with their arms and legs and refused to grow them back out of spite. Well it was a private discussion but in a crowd of teenagers there is no such thing as private.   
We finally reached the entrance to the wildcats and I could feel the excitement building up in me.  
“Were going to take a quick break so get something to drink and if you want to we have some souvenirs here at the little lemur shop so by all means support our cause, every purchase allows us to donate ten percent to the animal preservation charity.” He walked off with the girl who had come out of nowhere and it looked like something was wrong. I'm just pissed that he stopped us right here.   
“This is stupid, I was looking forward to this part of the tour for the whole day and now we get put on hold? The hell is up with that?”  
“Hey, Raven look, there’s a cage over there, let’s go see,” nick said and I agreed.   
We approached the cage and at first I saw nothing, no animal, but then I saw two ears peeking up from a hole in the ground. It looked like a miniature leopard though the shape was different. The little cat slowly walked closer to us. I saw on the notification board that this cat was called a Serval. It started walking left and right against the fence, like it was restless or something.   
“I think he likes you,” Nick said next to me but I couldn’t help looking at the animal. It was like we were suddenly in a staring competition.   
Two.  
“Hey you two, get back in the group,” our little guide said. Nick listened, I just stared at the little animal, in the back of my head it felt like I was looking through its eyes, seeing myself. It slowly bowed its head and I understood that it had acknowledged me. I joined the group again and noted the expression on our guide’s face.   
“Is everything alright?” I asked him.  
“Of course,” he said with a big smile.  
“Lie to me and I’ll knock your teeth out,” I said with a smile and his faltered. “Tell me what’s going on,” I looked at my hands, I thought I had reached out with them.  
“It’s nothing to be concerned about; some of our animals have just been acting odd today. It won’t get in the way of the tour so let’s go,” he said and turned around. I looked back at the Serval, it sat still, like it wouldn’t move from its place. I knew that’s its eyes were focused on me.  
We walked through an archway that led to a bridge; beneath the bridge was the ‘habitat’ in which the big cats lived in their confinement. The bridge was made of concrete decorated with reeds. The only thing that was visibly unnatural was the plastic see through roof above us.   
We first saw a leopard, it was walking from left to right and it saw us and growled fiercely.  
Three.  
Our guide tried to say something but the constant growling made him move. I slacked behind a bit to get a better view of the spotted animal. I looked down at it and simultaneously it looked up at me and stopped moving. Its entire body seemed to be still. I kept eye contact but slowly started walking back to the group.   
The next animal was also spotted but faster, the cheetah. The lines beneath its eyes gave it the appearance that it was crying. The cheetah sat upright as we approached; when we finally got closer it started running around.   
“Something seems to have spooked them,” henry said with a nervous smile. “Normally they aren’t so energetic, let’s move on.” I gave one last look at the cheetah, it was looking at me.  
Four.  
Next was the white tiger, but it was in the house-like shelter built for it. It growled like all the others but I think that it’s probably shy. We moved on to the next animal, I looked back at the shelter thing and the tiger came out. I took a photo, it really was a beautiful animal. I put my backpack on the ground rummaged in it to get a better lens for the camera. I took the photo carefully; I looked at the results on the memory card and ran to catch up with the others. I took one look back at the tiger.  
Five.  
Two Puma were next. A normal one that had spots and of course one everyone knows, a black puma. I took a photo of it and felt guilty that I hadn’t taken a photo of the leopard and cheetah.   
This one was calm, like it wasn’t affected by what was bothering the others, though it seemed to bare its teeth.   
“Kinda scary isn’t it?”   
I looked to my side and nearly dropped my camera; Ashe Sterling stood next to me, smiling.  
“Hi,” I said and lowered the camera.  
“Aren’t you scared?” She asked and took the camera from my hands.  
“Scared of what?” I watched as she went through my photos.  
“Them?” She nudged at the black puma.  
“No, I think their marvelous.”   
She looked at me with those green eyes and I was stuck, I couldn’t look away, I didn’t want to, she smiled.  
“You have three photos of everyone here today, five of me, a fair few of the animals but none of yourself,” she lifted the camera and took a picture of me.  
“Perfect,” she said and I reached for it but she held it out of my reach, I couldn’t help but smile. I reached for it faster than she expected, she accidently let go of the camera and I grabbed it. That was so close, but it didn’t matter. I was now so close to Ashe, what was left of our personal space could be best described as a gap.   
“Ok guys, let’s move on to the king and queen of the jungle,” Henry said and I pulled away from Ashe. Her cheeks were red and I could feel mine weren’t any better. Jessica called her and she started walking, she turned to me.   
“Don’t delete that photo,” she said.   
“I wasn’t planning to,” I said honestly and she turned with a smile. I turned back to the puma, it was directly beneath me I took the photo.   
Six.  
We reached the last area; it was big and very spacious.   
“Here we have the lions, also known as the king of the jungle. You will note that the female doesn’t have a mane like the male that’s what helps to differentiate between the two.   
I walked closer, frowning.  
“Though they aren’t born with the mane, it only comes in later as you can see right now.”  
“Actually we can’t,” I said and henry stopped and looked at me.  
“What?”  
“There is no male lion in here, just a female,” I observed.   
“The male is probably somewhere in a tree or something,” everyone started looking inside for the male lion.  
“I don’t see him, he has to be in here,” henry said but then I saw it.  
“No he doesn’t,” henry turned to me.   
“Nobody noticed that a tree had broken into your fences right over there?” he followed my gaze, a branch had broken and fallen only to be perfectly placed between two trees, one inside the roaming grounds for the lions and the other outside.  
“Ok were going to be leaving.”   
I guess that started the emergency evacuation. We were being rushed to the entrance, I got tired of holding the camera so I decided to put it away. I reached for my bag and found it wasn’t there. I looked back; I must have left it back there. I turned around to get it.   
“Raven, where are you going?”  
“I forgot something, I’ll be there in a sec,” I said and ran before nick could say something. I ran to the bridge, I saw a cage I must have missed earlier, inside there was an animal called the lynx, another wild cat.  
Seven.  
I continued running and finally stopped when I saw my bag, I was panting slightly. I walked to it, calming down. The tiger looked at me with an intense gaze that made me think it was a perverted cat. I looked down at my bag and frowned, I had a really big shadow.  
Oh shit.  
I looked up and looking down on me was Mr. Lion himself and he was bigger than I thought he would be.   
So this is what going back for my bag results in. The lion jumped down and I felt the weight as it landed on the bridge. I took a step back and tripped over my bag and I fell to the ground. I sat up but there was no point in wanting to run anymore I don’t have a cat’s –irony- chance of outrunning this thing. It took a step closer to me, the reeds beneath its feet sounded like they were straining under his weight.  
“You need to go on a diet,” I said, if I'm about to die I might as well go out in style. I was about to make my next remark but my mouth froze before I could even start the word. The lion looked me in the eye and I returned the gaze. I couldn’t blink or anything. In that moment it was just me and the lion. I think the best color to describe its eyes is amber, brown amber. He took another step forward and was so close within reach. I kept its gaze, I saw myself, looking at it, like I was the lion or rather just looking out through its eyes at myself. I sat up straighter and reached out with my hand. He growled and in his eyes I saw the warning.   
“You won’t hurt me,” I said and my voice sounded like it was coming from a different place. The lion growled again but I still held my hand out.   
“I’m not going to hurt you,” I said and it growled even more. “Trust me,” I said when my hand was inches away from its mane. “It’s alright,” it gave one last warning growl but when my hand touched its hard fur, I gently stroked it. The growling slowly subdued and somehow I knew that I had its trust in me. I can’t describe it.   
“This is crazy,” I used two hands to scratch the mane. “Completely insane.”   
I heard running footsteps from a distance; the lion looked up and turned his head in the same direction, growling.  
“Go back to that prison before they catch and hurt you,” I said and the lion blinked once, I bowed my head to him and when I looked up he was running back to the place where he was being held.   
Eight.   
“Hey, what are you doing here” henry yelled at me.  
“Taking photos,” I said and held out my camera for him to see.  
“You have to evacuate, there’s a lion on the loose.”  
“No there isn’t” I said pretending to be surprised.  
“Yes, the male lion is.”  
“Right there, next to the female lion, see over there,” I said and pointed at the two of them. Henry’s mouth fell open and he looked like he had just gone through shock.  
“But he wasn’t there earlier, you were there, you said that he escaped via that branch.  
“No, I said he could have, he must just not have been in sight at that moment, doesn’t mean he escaped though it would be a good idea to get rid of that branch just in case he realizes that’s it there.” I gave him that look, the one that would make him question himself. I could see it, that mental acknowledgment of defeat. His body reflected his mind. He spoke to the two men behind him and slowly everyone seemed to calm down. The reservation was reopened after they sorted out that branch. I noticed that most of the kids who came via vehicles had taken of I didn’t see nick so I guess he must have caught a lift with someone. I didn’t see Ashe or Jessica, they were gone also. I just walked on. I went back to the wild cats. They seemed calmer now, less stressed than before. I sat there and looked at them.   
“Well look who it is all by his self.”   
It was Billy, I didn’t need to turn around, I could recognize his deep dumb voice from a yard away.  
“I’m actually surprised that you guys are here, I’d have thought that you guys would have thought of escaping when everyone else hit the road. Oh wait a second. That would have required actual brainwork.”  
“That’s funny.” He said and his group spread out, he snapped his fingers and I jumped up and ran as they came for me. Billy sometimes picks on me, I'm not a usual target but today everyone else made a run for it. I took a turn and ended up in a backyard dead-end. I turned around but one of his mates grabbed my arm, I used his weight against him and hit a pressure point in his arm. I attacked his elbow and made a run for it only to be grabbed by three more guys. Billy came from behind the gate and following him was Jason Isis.   
“What are we going to do for fun today?”  
“You can go play with each other in the bushes like you do in the showers after gym,” I said and got a blow to the stomach and doubled with the pain. Not new pain, last night’s pain.  
“Someone’s a little cocky today.”   
“Interesting choice of words,” I got another blow and my legs gave in.  
“You seem tense,” Billy said while looking at something over by a bunch of tree branches.  
“Have you seen your face? If that ends up being contagious then I’d be mortified,” I could barely keep my breaths controlled, my body was in pain. I've never felt bruises like I felt these. I should have remembered the ring; I shouldn’t have had it on.  
“That’s an interesting ring,” Billy said and I looked up at him. “Let’s see it,” he came walking to get the ring but I forced the guys holding me to come closer and kicked Billy square in the stomach.  
“Don’t you dare touch that ring,” I threatened and Billy was about to laugh but he looked at my face and I'm sure something in my expression made him reconsider.  
“Why? Your mommy going to be mad at her little boy for losing it?” Jason said and I turned my gaze at him  
“I don’t know, she never clarified the value of the heirloom when she died.”   
“That’s not funny,” Jason said.  
“Not my fault the truth sucks,” I could see he seemed conflicted and slightly confused. He looked at Billy, expecting something. They must have put him up to it.  
“Hey Jason, go see that nobody comes in around that corner” Billy said and I noticed that Jason looked affronted  
“What?”   
“You heard me, go!” clearly Jason didn’t like being shunt around. He turned and walked to take the role of a scouter.   
“Now Simon, do you like golf?”   
“Not really, I fail to see why it matters.”  
“The thing is that it’s all about aiming and precision.” I was forced against the ground and he put a rock on my stomach.  
“If you aim too high you will miss and only hit air. If you aim too low you hit solid earth.” He took out a branch that was as close to straight as you could expect and then he pretended to be practicing his swing above my stomach using the rock as a ball. I realized he was practicing his swing.  
“Billy, don’t do this,” I said but he was going to do it anyway, he brought the stick back and then he swung. He aimed too low, the branch broke but my mouth was muffled before I could yell out in pain. I remember hearing something tear. I saw little dots in my vision, I felt awful and I could taste bile in my mouth. I didn’t have energy; I was too dizzy and numb.   
“Guess we have to try it again,” Billy said and produced another branch. This one was sturdier and it wouldn’t break if he aimed too low. I looked at the gate, hoping someone would see. Jason was there, he turned around to look this way and his eyes widened when he saw the situation. Billy raised the branch and I wished for some miracle to save me. I heard singing from somewhere, it soothed me in this moment.  
“Ouch!” Billy yelled and I looked at him. His hand was bleeding.   
“What happened?” Sam asked.   
“A thorn, there weren’t any thorns on this branch, it’s like it came out of nowhere,” billy wiped the blood on his pants. He disregarded the blood and brought the branch up again. If he hits, I’m definitely going to pass out. He started swinging when Jason suddenly yelled out that someone was coming. Everybody scrammed and I took a deep breath. I heard an engine, followed by a screech of tires and then I saw them go.  
“They didn’t even wait for me,” he said unsurprised he walked over to me.  
“Go!” I said and tried to get up, I felt disorientated. He helped me up to my feet.  
“Let me help you, clearly you can’t manage yourself right now.”  
“If you don’t go now you’re going to get into shit.” I said but he just frowned at me “It won’t take a genius to see that I've been hurt or something, so whoever you saw coming will immediately.”  
“Nobody.”  
“What?” I said  
“Nobody’s coming.”   
I just looked at him not sure I understood.  
“I couldn’t let him hit you with that branch, he could have broken a bone or something and that would have been a big issue…humans,” he said and then it looked like he said something wrong. “When will we learn?” He added but something about the way he said it seemed wrong.   
He helped me up but I winced the whole time.   
“I think we should get you to a nurse or something.” He stopped short. “What is that? That wasn’t Billy.”   
I followed Jason’s gaze and saw what he saw. I knew I heard something tear, it was my shirt and it showed the marks left behind by Frank.   
“I fell of my bike,” I said.   
“That’s not a bike fall, that’s a kick or a punch. You took a beating, have you been in a fight?”   
“It’s none of your business what I do in my personal time.”  
“Did someone do that to you?” He asked and grabbed my arm, like it would force me to talk. I don’t know where it came from, but a reflex kicked in, I grabbed his hand and pulled him to the ground and then moved several feet away from him.   
“What the, where did that come from?”  
“I'm sorry,” I said and raised my hands. “I don’t know what just happened.”  
“It’s ok, but that doesn’t change the fact that somebody did that to you.” His phone rang and he answered it. He spoke for a few seconds; I could hear it was important.   
“I have to go, don’t think I'm going to forget this,” he said and was gone.  
“Wouldn’t dream of it” I said loud enough for him to hear. Suddenly my mood was spoiled. I decided to go. I let Ms. whitely know that I was going, she didn’t argue. I made a final walk through the big cats. I said goodbye to each of them individually and then I left.   
I was in town when I noticed Billy and the others driving out of a fast food joint, he spotted me yelled to the others and the chase began. There was no traffic so I just put the pedal to the metal and sped. I turned before I hit any traffic lights. Billy was close on my heels. I didn’t slow down and made a turn while my wheels screeched in agony. I saw the Midnight and decided to go there, I swerved left a street too soon for the midnight’s entrance, accelerated as fast as I could, swerved right by the corner and then right again by the next turn and saw a back way to the hotel and sped to it. There was no security and I was grateful for that but not about the fact that the car died right then. I tried to start it but nothing happened. I got out and heard Billy as he came down the turn. They looked around but didn’t turn off in my direction. They went forward. I don’t understand, but my readiness to fight died with shame. I promised no more fights and I was just about to start one. I looked back at the hotel, I've never seen this turn off; in fact I'm sure it wasn’t here. I looked at where the car died; I’m surprised to see that I’m perfectly parked. I've never had the guts to go inside the midnight but since I'm here and in hiding I might as well. I walked to the entrance and the man with the list was busy with an argument with a client. The two big guys were busy removing people. There was a big crowd by the entrance. The thing I noticed was their clothes; it seemed weird that they were wearing robes. I slowly walked to the two entrance doors and nobody took notice of me. This was easier than I thought it would be. Inside the lobby there was a big banner.  
Welcome all magical folk.   
There I stopped and looked around.The people inside were wearing cloaks and robes like you’d expect merlin to wear, like they were really witches and wizards. It looked like a big comic book convention; instead this was for people who believed in magic, who thought they were witches and wizards. Then I understood.  
This is a convention.   
I never thought the midnight would host events like these but I've never been inside. A man –or wizard – walked by me talking to his ‘witch’ friend:  
“So I applied the snake skin to the potion and it nearly blew up the room.”  
She laughed.  
“You should see what happened when I accidently mixed a mandrake root with a tail of dragon in a blasting potion, the house caught fire for three days!”  
They continued on with their animated discussion and I just stared. I walked into the next room, it was a big hall full of people. I noticed a commotion at the back where people seemed to be overshadowing a guy wearing glasses with a nerdish expression on his face who was clearly stressed. A short man posing as a goblin yelled something at him.  
“I clearly booked the suite four weeks ago and now that I get here my family and I have to wait because the room is currently occupied? What kind of a business is being run here, where is Nina? Let me talk to her!”  
“She’s out on business, uh, I'm so sorry; I don’t know what to say.”  
“Everything ok here” I asked.  
“No,” the small guy said, he wasn’t wearing any gobbling clothes or make up so he was probably posing as something else. “This imbecile doesn’t have a room for me and my family after we booked weeks ago and now we have to wait while he clearly doesn’t know what to do!”  
The nerdish guy looked hopeless. I felt bad for him.  
“Ok, just give us a minute and we’ll sort this out,” I reassured the short man.   
“Yes, do that, otherwise I'm taking this to Nina,” he said and turned around and waited. I noticed the kid with glasses whimper at the threat.   
“I hate my job,” he said. “I never wanted to do this, I was forced to work here. I'm dead.”  
“Ok, relax, what’s your name?”  
“Vernand”  
“Ok Vern, were going to sort this out. I suppose you have a guest list with dates and times don’t you?”   
“I do but we aren’t allowed to”   
“Shut up, get it and then they were in a suite, bring me a copy of the suite list too.”  
He came back with a list of dates for guests who would be arriving and who would be leaving. I went through the list of floor levels, it looked like there were two hundred thought that didn’t make any sense. I quickly scanned the information I had and bit my lip.   
“Ok, so this is the best way to go about this” it was mainly improvise but all the stuff Vern gave me ended up getting worse than what it was. The bookings were scrabbled up and by the end of the week there would be more mishaps like this one.  
“Ok, that’s done” I said and Vern just looked like a weight had been taken of his shoulders.  
“Take my job, please, I beg you. I don’t know how you did what you just did.”  
“My Gran made me do all kinds of stuff. I know how to deal with people,” though that statement has many contradictions in itself.  
“Take my job, please”  
“I can’t, I have school. It’s going to be alright.”  
“Then do me one favor,” Vern said desperately and I sighed and nodded. “Would you go talk to Mr. Higgins, he scares me. I don’t want to talk to him again, please?”  
I sighed and walked to the small man whom I assume to be Mr. Higgins.   
“Mr. Higgins,” I said and the small man looked up at me.  
“Well?” he said rudely but I just nodded.  
“Were putting you in a different suite, you’ll be happy to know that it’s an upgrade for you and your family.” At that his face seemed to have brightened and he nodded. “The midnight would also invite you to spend three days free of charge at a date of your choosing.” I might have declared he won the lottery.   
“Of course, no problems. All is perfectly well. Thank you very much, the high council will be notified, they will be very pleased in you. What is your name?”  
I tried not to smile or laugh. He was dead serious about this high council business. I decided to play along.  
“It’s not a big deal, I’m sure the high council has more important matters to care about than a simple correction of a…” he raised his hand and I kept quiet.   
“It’s not for you to decide, give me your name boy.”  
“Its Simon Raven sir,” I said and he nodded.  
“I have committed your name to memory, I never forget a name.”   
I nodded and walked away, honestly he’s kind of obnoxious. Like he’s better and deserves respect, a little like Jason Isis. I stayed a little while longer; I sat down and thanks to Vern received soda free of charge. It was fun listening to these people talk, they were really convincing and seemed to be serious about whatever magical fantasy they were portraying.   
“So you live in the human world?”   
I looked up, it was a kid with black hair, pale skin and bright blue eyes, actually he’s probably older than I am but he had one of those faces that aged slower than anybody else’s.   
“What do you mean?” I asked.  
“You’re dressed like them, humans, that’s how we know who lives in the human world.”  
“So that means you’re from?”   
“Eldeen of course” he said proudly and I kept my laugh in. I understood things a little better now. This was more of a big enactment. Everybody here lived in the same shared fantasy.   
“So everyone here is either from the ‘human world or from eldeen?”  
He laughed.  
“No, you’re funny. What’s your name?”   
“Raven, you?”   
“Craig,” he shook my hand.  
“So what’s going on here?” I asked.  
“Nothing really, hey, I'm curious.”  
“About.”  
“What magic do you use?”  
“Fire,” I said, it has to be the most known type of magic.   
“Wow, so you’re an elemental?”  
“Yeah, definitely” I said feeling a little lost, I should look up what characters are available during these events.   
“Wow, you must be powerful?”  
“It’s not that big.”  
“Show me, I’d really like to see,” he said, there was a genuine kind of excitement in his tone.  
I caught sight of the time and looked at my wristwatch, I had to go.  
“It was nice meeting you Craig, I have to go though, human stuff to do, but next time I’ll think of something ok?” I said playing along.  
“Ok?” he sounded a little confused. “Don’t get caught using magic!” He yelled out at me as I left.   
When I got outside I just laughed, I should actually find out the next day they have this convention/enactment thing and then join in on the fun. It could be fun, living a life apart of being human, even if it’s pretend.   
I drove to Grans, parked the car and headed of. I saw the white cat as it leaped a fence and I waved at it.  
I went inside to put away the spare key. I saw Gran was back, I went to find her but I didn’t find her in her room or in any other room. I walked to the living room to write a note saying that I had returned the spare. I noticed a book open and curiosity got the better of me. I looked at it and frowned; I've never known Gran to be interested in mythical animals. I looked at the title  
Paladin cat  
These cats are born with small ears and blue eyes, their fur at birth will be white and their tails will be elongated. As they grow older their fur takes on a different color and will either be single colored or tabby. After three weeks they grow at a significant pace and after two months they are full grown. By the end of the two months their ears start growing out longer and a single color would appear on the tip of the ears and tail at the end of three months. This tip of color shows that the creature is in its first stage of magical abilities and is capable of shape-  
I stopped reading; I was forgetting something I had to do. I had to go home and do something. 

As I walked I thought about today, it was a busy day, especially the whole thing with the lion, is that even normal? I could actually have used that story in the hotel; it would have made for a good story  
I was by the log landmark, I stopped and dropped my bag and sat down. My shirt was ripped, I liked this shirt, there was a skull on my left side, well there used to be. I ran my hand through my hair. I closed my eyes and let the wind play with my hair. I took a deep breath and just listened to my surroundings. I looked to where that figment of my imagination made the forest seem scarier. I got up and consciously walked to it. My body was slightly tingly, I involuntarily shivered and took another step closer. I looked forward; it was definitely colder in here than it where the better side was. I walked further in, deeper I went. I don’t remember actually ever walking around here. There was something ethereal in here, I felt like I was having an out of body experience, I’m moving but it feels distant. I came upon a lake, this must be where the waterfall leads to, but there isn’t a stream that leads anywhere from here, though I couldn’t be sure about it, I didn’t see the full length of the lake, it reached out further but there was fog that interrupted my view. Everything here was extra green, alien like. Things seemed enhanced here, color actually seemed more intense. Grass green leaves, blood red flowers. Crystal clear blue water. I walked to the water; I suddenly had a really big desire to swim. I took of my shirt and shoes and pressed the tip of my toe in the water. It was cold but I know how to endure. I slowly went in deeper, suddenly my body was in ice cold water but I wasn’t getting out yet, I wanted to swim deeper, I couldn’t explain it.   
I stopped when I realized that I had been going for so long now that I didn’t know exactly how deep I had gone in. I looked around me; there was only mist and no indication of where the closest surface could be. I looked behind me but everything looked the same, misty and white. I looked up but the branches were so tightly packed that barely any light shone through. I decided that if I just continued swimming in a straight line then eventually I would have to reach something. I started forward; I never thought that this lake would be so big in size. It was so quiet, I only heard myself swimming in the water. I stopped for a second; I didn’t even hear any birds. Nothing, not a single sound and from. The only ripples in the water were the small ones I gave of. Other than that it was just mist. A small sense of panic began creeping inside me, from past experiences, the absence of animal sounds in my mind means bad, very bad. The silence was deafening, like a pressure was being held against my ears. I took a breath and calmed my head. I still felt that tingling feeling. I decided that I would go forward, the cold of the water was reaching my brain and my teeth began to jitter slightly. I was about to make that first movement when I heard water from a distance, like something had fallen into the water. I wanted to ask if there was anybody out there but my mouth refused to move. I heard movement in the water and finally after a few more moments I saw the ripples. I slowly backed up and tried to make very small ripples. In my head there is something dangerous out there, nobody lives close to here, I've never known anybody to come here and above else it’s an odd place to come for a swim. I live here, I have an excuse.   
The ripples from whatever got into the water were indicating that it was getting closer. I began swimming faster, I didn’t want to be in the water anymore, I wanted out. I don’t get why I swam in the first place. I went as fast as I could, I had a creepy feeling that I was being pursued. I turned around to see what it was; I heard a hissing sound and my bones ran cold. I gasped as something scratched my shoulder, I looked back to see a rock and saw land. I grabbed the rock and hoisted myself up. I ignored all the pain my body offered me and started running. I heard leaves cracking behind me and I refused to look back in case my suspicion of it being a snake was right. I don’t know why a snake would be after me but I sure as hell won’t be giving it the opportunity to present a case. I don’t particularly like snakes. I was freezing and running against the cold wind. This whole place was cold. I heard movement from above, the hissing from behind made me not care about what was to my front. I concentrated and forced my body to go faster. I looked up and there was a blur that sped by me, we were going too fast in opposite directions and I wasn’t paying enough attention to see what it was. I just heard impact behind me and then a lot of rustling. I tripped over a branch looking back and scathed my arm. I got up again and continued running. I don’t even remember swimming this far out. I was completely surrounded by mist; I had no idea how to get out from here. I kept next to the lake in case I noticed something familiar. I stepped on something foreign to the ground and looked back. My shirt and shoes! I went back to get them and immediately recognized my surroundings, there wasn’t any thick mist here. I turned and ran knowing where to go to get back to the log. As I entered the part that was according to me the lighter side of the forest I felt the temperature shift. I looked back; you’d never think there’s a lake from here. It’s too deep into the dark forest. I shivered thinking about how there was something in the water with me. I walked home and went to my room. I took out my phone and saw that I had a missed call. I listened to the message; it was Gran saying that she was going to be away this weekend. She told me to take good care of Bob. I went to my room at the cottage and locked myself inside. I'm not going to make food tonight; Frank can starve for all I care. I spent the night on my math project and studying a little French phrases. I fell asleep after eleven.   
I was running, somebody was chasing me, I had to go somewhere I didn’t know and I did. I flew in the air and landed on a cushion, see the spots run mommy  
I woke up; it was a few minutes after three. I lay in my bed, trying to disregard the dream, it was a weird dream, there was a feeling to it, and I felt so sure that it was real. I tried sleeping again but couldn’t, after four I got up and snuck out of the window to go to Gran’s mansion. I took a detour, I went to the cave, I climbed up until I was at the beam and I carefully walked on it, I found the spot where I was sure that I had fallen, I knew it was here because I saw the penny that fell out of my pocket right before I fell. It’s not much but I would have picked it up before climbing down. I saw where I had lost grip; there were slight impressions on the beam. I climbed back down, so I know I fell down. The real question is how did Gran catch me and what happened to my face that’s left it void of any damage. At about six I decided to go to the mansion. Once inside I found myself relaxed. I fancy this place, it’s more than spacious and it feels more like home than that stupid cottage does. I browsed a bit, I walked by the piano and my hands traced over the keys, I went to the kitchen and rummaged through the fridge. I found an apple pie there and took it out for a slice. I made some coffee and just before I left I threw some cat food in bob’s bowl. I went to crash on Gran’s patio. I wrapped my birthday scarf around my neck and kept a visual on the lawn. There was still a thin layer of snow but I could feel the temperature go up as summer came. This cold was going to be a thing of the past soon.  
Bob made his way to my lap; he tilted his head, slightly climbed with my shirt a until he pressed his paws against my chest, where my worst bruises were  
“They’re better, thanks for caring” I said and petted him. He purred. I remembered the book I saw yesterday. I was really interested in reading the rest but I felt so lazy in Grans house, like my mind was at ease. I opened my bag and started on my essays. I wanted to hand them in Monday and I now had more than enough time. I was finished with them both by twelve and I decided to read to pass the time by. I put on music to keep the house from being so horribly quiet. I lit a fire; I thought about the other day with the match, it bothered me for a reason. Bob came to sit with me. Bob always liked me, I think he might like me a little more than he likes Gran seeing that he’d rather sit with me than with her.   
Time went by so fast at Gran’s mansion, before I knew it was Sunday night. I went to the room next to Grans study, I chose this room as my own and nobody was ever allowed to sleep here. The main sleeping room is upstairs but Gran sleeps in one of the rooms closer to the staircase below, she said that all the rooms were big enough for her but that room was just too big and she’d go insane.   
I got into my bed that sported black sheets and pillows; I switched on the bedside lamp and continued reading. I still had four more hours before I would actually start getting tired and I finished all the math work for the rest of the year so I was bored. Bob was at my side within moments and I envied him when he fell asleep within minutes. After I finished the book I took out a sketch pad from the drawer and I scribbled a little. I easily wasted ten pages, drawing pointless things like circles and wired lines. The last thing I drew was a line that curved in itself twice with a curve that simply ran through it. I put the notepad away and switched of the bed light. School again tomorrow, I'm not excited. I had a feeling in the pit of my stomach that it was going to be a bad day

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> spoiler. I just want you to notice that Raven doesnt . Thats all. He's actually very smart so da da dum.


	5. welcome all

There I stopped and looked around.The people inside were wearing cloaks and robes like you’d expect merlin to wear, like they were really witches and wizards. It looked like a big comic book convention; instead this was for people who believed in magic, who thought they were witches and wizards. Then I understood.  
This is a convention.   
I never thought the midnight would host events like these but I've never been inside. A man –or wizard – walked by me talking to his ‘witch’ friend:  
“So I applied the snake skin to the potion and it nearly blew up the room.”  
She laughed.  
“You should see what happened when I accidently mixed a mandrake root with a tail of dragon in a blasting potion, the house caught fire for three days!”  
They continued on with their animated discussion and I just stared. I walked into the next room, it was a big hall full of people. I noticed a commotion at the back where people seemed to be overshadowing a guy wearing glasses with a nerdish expression on his face who was clearly stressed. A short man posing as a goblin yelled something at him.  
“I clearly booked the suite four weeks ago and now that I get here my family and I have to wait because the room is currently occupied? What kind of a business is being run here, where is Nina? Let me talk to her!”  
“She’s out on business, uh, I'm so sorry; I don’t know what to say.”  
“Everything ok here” I asked.  
“No,” the small guy said, he wasn’t wearing any gobbling clothes or make up so he was probably posing as something else. “This imbecile doesn’t have a room for me and my family after we booked weeks ago and now we have to wait while he clearly doesn’t know what to do!”  
The nerdish guy looked hopeless. I felt bad for him.  
“Ok, just give us a minute and we’ll sort this out,” I reassured the short man.   
“Yes, do that, otherwise I'm taking this to Nina,” he said and turned around and waited. I noticed the kid with glasses whimper at the threat.   
“I hate my job,” he said. “I never wanted to do this, I was forced to work here. I'm dead.”  
“Ok, relax, what’s your name?”  
“Vernand”  
“Ok Vern, were going to sort this out. I suppose you have a guest list with dates and times don’t you?”   
“I do but we aren’t allowed to”   
“Shut up, get it and then they were in a suite, bring me a copy of the suite list too.”  
He came back with a list of dates for guests who would be arriving and who would be leaving. I went through the list of floor levels, it looked like there were two hundred thought that didn’t make any sense. I quickly scanned the information I had and bit my lip.   
“Ok, so this is the best way to go about this” it was mainly improvise but all the stuff Vern gave me ended up getting worse than what it was. The bookings were scrabbled up and by the end of the week there would be more mishaps like this one.  
“Ok, that’s done” I said and Vern just looked like a weight had been taken of his shoulders.  
“Take my job, please, I beg you. I don’t know how you did what you just did.”  
“My Gran made me do all kinds of stuff. I know how to deal with people,” though that statement has many contradictions in itself.  
“Take my job, please”  
“I can’t, I have school. It’s going to be alright.”  
“Then do me one favor,” Vern said desperately and I sighed and nodded. “Would you go talk to Mr. Higgins, he scares me. I don’t want to talk to him again, please?”  
I sighed and walked to the small man whom I assume to be Mr. Higgins.   
“Mr. Higgins,” I said and the small man looked up at me.  
“Well?” he said rudely but I just nodded.  
“Were putting you in a different suite, you’ll be happy to know that it’s an upgrade for you and your family.” At that his face seemed to have brightened and he nodded. “The midnight would also invite you to spend three days free of charge at a date of your choosing.” I might have declared he won the lottery.   
“Of course, no problems. All is perfectly well. Thank you very much, the high council will be notified, they will be very pleased in you. What is your name?”  
I tried not to smile or laugh. He was dead serious about this high council business. I decided to play along.  
“It’s not a big deal, I’m sure the high council has more important matters to care about than a simple correction of a…” he raised his hand and I kept quiet.   
“It’s not for you to decide, give me your name boy.”  
“Its Simon Raven sir,” I said and he nodded.  
“I have committed your name to memory, I never forget a name.”   
I nodded and walked away, honestly he’s kind of obnoxious. Like he’s better and deserves respect, a little like Jason Isis. I stayed a little while longer; I sat down and thanks to Vern received soda free of charge. It was fun listening to these people talk, they were really convincing and seemed to be serious about whatever magical fantasy they were portraying.   
“So you live in the human world?”   
I looked up, it was a kid with black hair, pale skin and bright blue eyes, actually he’s probably older than I am but he had one of those faces that aged slower than anybody else’s.   
“What do you mean?” I asked.  
“You’re dressed like them, humans, that’s how we know who lives in the human world.”  
“So that means you’re from?”   
“Eldeen of course” he said proudly and I kept my laugh in. I understood things a little better now. This was more of a big enactment. Everybody here lived in the same shared fantasy.   
“So everyone here is either from the ‘human world or from eldeen?”  
He laughed.  
“No, you’re funny. What’s your name?”   
“Raven, you?”   
“Craig,” he shook my hand.  
“So what’s going on here?” I asked.  
“Nothing really, hey, I'm curious.”  
“About.”  
“What magic do you use?”  
“Fire,” I said, it has to be the most known type of magic.   
“Wow, so you’re an elemental?”  
“Yeah, definitely” I said feeling a little lost, I should look up what characters are available during these events.   
“Wow, you must be powerful?”  
“It’s not that big.”  
“Show me, I’d really like to see,” he said, there was a genuine kind of excitement in his tone.  
I caught sight of the time and looked at my wristwatch, I had to go.  
“It was nice meeting you Craig, I have to go though, human stuff to do, but next time I’ll think of something ok?” I said playing along.  
“Ok?” he sounded a little confused. “Don’t get caught using magic!” He yelled out at me as I left.   
When I got outside I just laughed, I should actually find out the next day they have this convention/enactment thing and then join in on the fun. It could be fun, living a life apart of being human, even if it’s pretend.   
I drove to Grans, parked the car and headed of. I saw the white cat as it leaped a fence and I waved at it.  
I went inside to put away the spare key. I saw Gran was back, I went to find her but I didn’t find her in her room or in any other room. I walked to the living room to write a note saying that I had returned the spare. I noticed a book open and curiosity got the better of me. I looked at it and frowned; I've never known Gran to be interested in mythical animals. I looked at the title  
Paladin cat  
These cats are born with small ears and blue eyes, their fur at birth will be white and their tails will be elongated. As they grow older their fur takes on a different color and will either be single colored or tabby. After three weeks they grow at a significant pace and after two months they are full grown. By the end of the two months their ears start growing out longer and a single color would appear on the tip of the ears and tail at the end of three months. This tip of color shows that the creature is in its first stage of magical abilities and is capable of shape-  
I stopped reading; I was forgetting something I had to do. I had to go home and do something. 

As I walked I thought about today, it was a busy day, especially the whole thing with the lion, is that even normal? I could actually have used that story in the hotel; it would have made for a good story  
I was by the log landmark, I stopped and dropped my bag and sat down. My shirt was ripped, I liked this shirt, there was a skull on my left side, well there used to be. I ran my hand through my hair. I closed my eyes and let the wind play with my hair. I took a deep breath and just listened to my surroundings. I looked to where that figment of my imagination made the forest seem scarier. I got up and consciously walked to it. My body was slightly tingly, I involuntarily shivered and took another step closer. I looked forward; it was definitely colder in here than it where the better side was. I walked further in, deeper I went. I don’t remember actually ever walking around here. There was something ethereal in here, I felt like I was having an out of body experience, I’m moving but it feels distant. I came upon a lake, this must be where the waterfall leads to, but there isn’t a stream that leads anywhere from here, though I couldn’t be sure about it, I didn’t see the full length of the lake, it reached out further but there was fog that interrupted my view. Everything here was extra green, alien like. Things seemed enhanced here, color actually seemed more intense. Grass green leaves, blood red flowers. Crystal clear blue water. I walked to the water; I suddenly had a really big desire to swim. I took of my shirt and shoes and pressed the tip of my toe in the water. It was cold but I know how to endure. I slowly went in deeper, suddenly my body was in ice cold water but I wasn’t getting out yet, I wanted to swim deeper, I couldn’t explain it.   
I stopped when I realized that I had been going for so long now that I didn’t know exactly how deep I had gone in. I looked around me; there was only mist and no indication of where the closest surface could be. I looked behind me but everything looked the same, misty and white. I looked up but the branches were so tightly packed that barely any light shone through. I decided that if I just continued swimming in a straight line then eventually I would have to reach something. I started forward; I never thought that this lake would be so big in size. It was so quiet, I only heard myself swimming in the water. I stopped for a second; I didn’t even hear any birds. Nothing, not a single sound and from. The only ripples in the water were the small ones I gave of. Other than that it was just mist. A small sense of panic began creeping inside me, from past experiences, the absence of animal sounds in my mind means bad, very bad. The silence was deafening, like a pressure was being held against my ears. I took a breath and calmed my head. I still felt that tingling feeling. I decided that I would go forward, the cold of the water was reaching my brain and my teeth began to jitter slightly. I was about to make that first movement when I heard water from a distance, like something had fallen into the water. I wanted to ask if there was anybody out there but my mouth refused to move. I heard movement in the water and finally after a few more moments I saw the ripples. I slowly backed up and tried to make very small ripples. In my head there is something dangerous out there, nobody lives close to here, I've never known anybody to come here and above else it’s an odd place to come for a swim. I live here, I have an excuse.   
The ripples from whatever got into the water were indicating that it was getting closer. I began swimming faster, I didn’t want to be in the water anymore, I wanted out. I don’t get why I swam in the first place. I went as fast as I could, I had a creepy feeling that I was being pursued. I turned around to see what it was; I heard a hissing sound and my bones ran cold. I gasped as something scratched my shoulder, I looked back to see a rock and saw land. I grabbed the rock and hoisted myself up. I ignored all the pain my body offered me and started running. I heard leaves cracking behind me and I refused to look back in case my suspicion of it being a snake was right. I don’t know why a snake would be after me but I sure as hell won’t be giving it the opportunity to present a case. I don’t particularly like snakes. I was freezing and running against the cold wind. This whole place was cold. I heard movement from above, the hissing from behind made me not care about what was to my front. I concentrated and forced my body to go faster. I looked up and there was a blur that sped by me, we were going too fast in opposite directions and I wasn’t paying enough attention to see what it was. I just heard impact behind me and then a lot of rustling. I tripped over a branch looking back and scathed my arm. I got up again and continued running. I don’t even remember swimming this far out. I was completely surrounded by mist; I had no idea how to get out from here. I kept next to the lake in case I noticed something familiar. I stepped on something foreign to the ground and looked back. My shirt and shoes! I went back to get them and immediately recognized my surroundings, there wasn’t any thick mist here. I turned and ran knowing where to go to get back to the log. As I entered the part that was according to me the lighter side of the forest I felt the temperature shift. I looked back; you’d never think there’s a lake from here. It’s too deep into the dark forest. I shivered thinking about how there was something in the water with me. I walked home and went to my room. I took out my phone and saw that I had a missed call. I listened to the message; it was Gran saying that she was going to be away this weekend. She told me to take good care of Bob. I went to my room at the cottage and locked myself inside. I'm not going to make food tonight; Frank can starve for all I care. I spent the night on my math project and studying a little French phrases. I fell asleep after eleven.   
I was running, somebody was chasing me, I had to go somewhere I didn’t know and I did. I flew in the air and landed on a cushion, see the spots run mommy  
I woke up; it was a few minutes after three. I lay in my bed, trying to disregard the dream, it was a weird dream, there was a feeling to it, and I felt so sure that it was real. I tried sleeping again but couldn’t, after four I got up and snuck out of the window to go to Gran’s mansion. I took a detour, I went to the cave, I climbed up until I was at the beam and I carefully walked on it, I found the spot where I was sure that I had fallen, I knew it was here because I saw the penny that fell out of my pocket right before I fell. It’s not much but I would have picked it up before climbing down. I saw where I had lost grip; there were slight impressions on the beam. I climbed back down, so I know I fell down. The real question is how did Gran catch me and what happened to my face that’s left it void of any damage. At about six I decided to go to the mansion. Once inside I found myself relaxed. I fancy this place, it’s more than spacious and it feels more like home than that stupid cottage does. I browsed a bit, I walked by the piano and my hands traced over the keys, I went to the kitchen and rummaged through the fridge. I found an apple pie there and took it out for a slice. I made some coffee and just before I left I threw some cat food in bob’s bowl. I went to crash on Gran’s patio. I wrapped my birthday scarf around my neck and kept a visual on the lawn. There was still a thin layer of snow but I could feel the temperature go up as summer came. This cold was going to be a thing of the past soon.  
Bob made his way to my lap; he tilted his head, slightly climbed with my shirt a until he pressed his paws against my chest, where my worst bruises were  
“They’re better, thanks for caring” I said and petted him. He purred. I remembered the book I saw yesterday. I was really interested in reading the rest but I felt so lazy in Grans house, like my mind was at ease. I opened my bag and started on my essays. I wanted to hand them in Monday and I now had more than enough time. I was finished with them both by twelve and I decided to read to pass the time by. I put on music to keep the house from being so horribly quiet. I lit a fire; I thought about the other day with the match, it bothered me for a reason. Bob came to sit with me. Bob always liked me, I think he might like me a little more than he likes Gran seeing that he’d rather sit with me than with her.   
Time went by so fast at Gran’s mansion, before I knew it was Sunday night. I went to the room next to Grans study, I chose this room as my own and nobody was ever allowed to sleep here. The main sleeping room is upstairs but Gran sleeps in one of the rooms closer to the staircase below, she said that all the rooms were big enough for her but that room was just too big and she’d go insane.   
I got into my bed that sported black sheets and pillows; I switched on the bedside lamp and continued reading. I still had four more hours before I would actually start getting tired and I finished all the math work for the rest of the year so I was bored. Bob was at my side within moments and I envied him when he fell asleep within minutes. After I finished the book I took out a sketch pad from the drawer and I scribbled a little. I easily wasted ten pages, drawing pointless things like circles and wired lines. The last thing I drew was a line that curved in itself twice with a curve that simply ran through it. I put the notepad away and switched of the bed light. School again tomorrow, I'm not excited. I had a feeling in the pit of my stomach that it was going to be a bad day.


	6. Bad day

I got up and decided to go to school with my bike.   
I took a short cut through a park that had the purpose of preserving our trees and keep them there for the next generation. I drove through the path, my bruises aren’t so sensitive anymore, my body is so use to them that they tend to heal fast, that’s what I think anyway.   
I enjoyed the breeze, it was warmer today, I could feel it in the air. I looked at the trees and pondered on them for a second. They weren’t so creepy green like the ones in the dark forest – that’s it name from now on, the dark forest and the good forest – but they were still magnificently big and had a beauty about them. I thought about how they were all part of something. The roots were part of the ground, these trees were like those in the forest, they were rooted to the ground and indirectly connected to other trees and they were part of a design, fulfilling their purpose. I’m so shallow. I’m jealous of a bunch of trees because they already know that their part of something bigger. I feel like that should be me. I've always felt like that, a screwed up dad, a dying Grandmother, it just doesn’t feel right. Sometimes I feel like there is another part of me, one that hasn’t had a chance to show itself. I've always had it, so I tried excelling in grades as we agreed but that wasn’t what I needed. It was something else, something that would make a difference in the world. Maybe I’m going to write a super-efficient autobiography. But there are worse things than a crap dad. I just want to find my purpose soon, this or next year or the one after that. Before I’m old and rusted like Gran. A hell, who am I kidding, Gran achieved so much in her life. Greatest woman in her industry that they’re still using her. I’m sure when she was seventeen she was already sure of what she was going to do with the rest of her life. I wonder what my mom was like at my age. Not much if she was desperate enough to love Frank.   
Suddenly I heard whispering, I wasn’t sure where it came from, it sounded as though the whispering was all around me, getting louder, very louder, I suddenly looked behind me, expecting to see someone grab me, but there was no one. Then I felt that ringing again. I quickly turned toward the main road. As I left the branches, there was a final loud voice amongst the whispering voices, it was deep but sounded otherworldly, like a monster or something demonic  
The brakes screeched from a distance, an obvious sign that the driver liked speeding, but unfortunately neither the driver nor I were fast enough to dodge each other. I thought about my old town for no reason  
The impact sent me flying.  
Of all the days I chose not to look both ways, I choose the one where I would actually get hit!  
Here’s the weird thing, sure the car hit me, but there was a second, before the shock of the car and the realization that I was going to be hit that I felt this peculiar sensation. It might sound weird but it almost felt like I was nowhere and didn’t exist and for a second I saw will, tony and Ethan while I didn’t exist. Then I did again, I existed again.  
I reached the ground and considered being a stuntman as a profession, then scratched the idea when my body began groaning with pain. Luckily I landed on my feet and only then fell forward so the wounds were minor  
“You actually hit someone” a girl’s voice said in disbelief.  
“I guess I wasn't paying attention, I don’t normally have to” the driver spoke.  
Oh screw it.” How come every time I’m in moral peril lately-everyday no-one cares about my wellbeing?  
“Kid, you ok?”  
Now I’m a kid, why I ought to.  
I sighed then got up, examined myself, at least I didn’t have any broken bones or bruises (except the ones I already had, and they were thumping).  
Then I saw my bike. Or at least what was left of my bike. She was missing a wheel and the one still attached had been bent back so much so that I imagined a rhino staring in awe at the damage a car had done to my once great possession. Even the handle bars were gone.  
I stared curiously at what was left of my bike, then examined myself again, still had both arms, legs, feet and hands. Everything was still attached to where it was supposed to be, I only had a few blood scrapes here and there but nothing serious.  
So why did my bike look beaten up to a pulp while I had all my limbs.   
“Hey are you ok?”  
I stood up straight and stared at the two faces in the car.  
The girl had red, brown hair, deep brown eyes, full lips, a little pale but fair skin and a gentle expression on her face, she didn’t have make up but she had a natural beauty, like a model about her.  
The driver had a darker brown with a lighter shade of gold hair color, his eyes were a lighter brown that seemed more hazel and he also looked like a model.  
I turned around and walked to the school, I knew the directions by heart enough not to get lost by now.  
“Hey wait” she said and I ignored them and kept walking   
I heard the doors close and the engine start again. Good, leave me the hell alone  
The car slowly drove next to me,   
“Can we at least offer you a lift?”  
New students and they totaled my bike. I should go to the secretary and demand I be informed about any other students joining, just in case this whole running me over thing might become a trend. If I was lucky they would be going to a different school.  
The next thing I knew something metallic knocked me over (again) and I was rolling on the grass, incapable of stopping.  
“Do you want to kill him” the girl said while she was approaching me, then I felt her help me up.  
“Hey,” She said “I’m Emmy, he's Robert, we’re kind of new here, and he really gets worked up when he doesn’t know where to go. Could you please help us out?”  
I hate how she's so sincerely friendly, they slaughtered my bike but I couldn’t hate her, it would be wrong and I would feel guilty.   
She insisted we exchange numbers I didn’t really want to but gave in when Robert started backing her up.  
I got them to school, then got out of the Mazda and went my way without another word. They can sign in without me holding their hand  
Partly because they slaughtered my bike, I was kind of mad about that  
Partly because I was once again run over by new students again, I was mad about that  
But mainly I was just in an irritated mood.   
So I had a good reason to be pissed I guess, or maybe I’m being unreasonable. 

I had French first, we were going to have a self-study today, I could see it in Ms. Delphene’s expression: she was irritated. I knew it had something to do with the fact that only half of the class handed in their essays today and the other half would be handing them in fragments  
Jason came in; I only noticed because he greeted Ms. delphene and caused half the students to softly discuss his presence with each other.  
“Did you get here with your bike?” He asked me as he sat down  
“Yeah, I did,” now it’s in pieces.  
“Really, didn’t see it by all the others” he said, like he was testing me, to see if I was lying.   
“Well it’s not here,” in fact it’s everywhere, go to china and you might get my front wheel.  
“Then where is it?” he asked impatiently.  
“All over,” I said earnestly.  
I suddenly had a vivid reminder of what my bike looked like when I left it.

See spot run mommy  
Aisle 3 thank you very much for the beating  
Wake up, don’t forget me, and don’t forget me and don’t forget me thank you very much.   
Ladies Estimated is dead, world news, all is gone, the veil has been lifted, grim reaper asking for his   
She’s dead, gone. I miss her. I miss her so much already..  
Sit down, look lady, look at the summer, look at the grey, the eclipse, look at the sin is you, they’ll be very interested in you  
What are you doing here? I control you belong to me  
Yes, we have been waiting for you for a long time  
Long lost weapon but I am king amongst the royalty   
I’m going to wipe out   
Keep the chains together let the fire burn  
She’ll take over all the humans and sing while dancing in their blood.  
William I’m slipping  
Goodbye  
Natalie  
I control you, because you remembered that’s why you control me  
See SPOTS run mommy…mom?   
Wake up, don’t forget me, and don’t forget me and don’t forget me thank you very much  
Losing control   
Welcome back Raven  
Thank you. Feels good to be back

A high pitch, that’s what it turned into, like a constant screaming, I felt weird, I was cold, very cold, I was also wet, sweat I guess?  
“Raven?”  
I was on the floor.  
‘Raven, you ok?”  
Not really, obviously if you’re asking me if I’m ok, then I’m definitely not ok…  
Why was I not ok?  
I passed out.  
“I am ok,” I said to the voice.  
I sat up. The crowd that had gathered around me, suddenly spread and made the circle bigger  
“Jason will you help him to the bathroom.”  
Uh why? Because my feet are broken from passing out? I stood up, but to my surprise my feet wobbled. Jason helped me by letting me put my arm around his shoulder for support.  
“Take all the time you need,” Ms. delphene yelled behind us, probably scared I might spew in her classroom.  
“You don’t have to do this,” I said, my breakfast was staying within my stomach, wait did I even have breakfast?  
“Do you think I want to?”  
“Good, don’t want you to get the wrong idea” I said.  
“Wrong idea never crossed my mind,” he said and I could hear he sounded annoyed.  
“I can take it from here,” I said and took my hand of his shoulder, but my balance was still dodgy and I found myself going to the wall.  
“Whoa now,” Jason said and my arm was back where it started. “There, I got you.”   
“But.”  
“Just let me help you Simon.”  
“It’s Raven,” I said automatically.  
“Whatever.”  
“Wait,” I said suddenly.  
Jason stopped “What you going to puke?” he stepped back.  
“No, I just need to breathe.” And think.  
“Ok wait here,” he said rolling his eyes. “I’m going to get some water or something, don’t move!” He walked away

I closed my eyes  
Passing out had not been on my agenda for today. Normally whenever you pass out you have a forefeeling before you go lights out. I didn’t have that, I just went lights out.   
I heard the class behind me whispering and then I felt the soundless ringing sensation.  
I heard footsteps, Jason I guess.  
I frowned.  
I tried to remember what I saw while I was out.  
I vaguely remembered the stuff I saw, but I remember something about chains.  
Natalie.  
I found that funny, I didn’t know anyone named Natalie. Then Spot, I had dreamt that same thing, also something about William and a mail? Rail, veil? All the stuff was blurring out. I could just remember something about ladies estimated…  
But that didn’t matter. I felt eyes on me.  
“Did you get the water?” I asked.   
…  
I opened my eyes; it was Rob standing in front of me, not Jason.  
Great.  
“Hi, again” I said, just to be polite.  
He was frowning at me, like he was having difficulty believing I was here on the ground or like he had hearing problems.  
He shook his head.  
“Robert?” I said wearily.  
He wanted to say something, but held his fist in front of his mouth like he was debating whether or not to speak.  
“Do you,” he kept quiet.  
“Are you?-“  
“Never mind, goodbye.” Then he walked away.  
That was strange. I sat, feeling like a clown. Whatever I did, his face would now haunt me, that look he gave me, the look of disbelief, apprehension even. What kind of a conversation did we just have? “Do you, are you, never mind.” The hell kind of conversation is that? I’m surrounded by crazy people  
Did I do something?  
I got up; I was feeling odd thanks to that encounter just now. I got to the bathroom, and threw some water on my face, as I looked at the mirror I felt the color drain from my face.   
My eyes were, or I thought they were, red, like very red, not the normal red, now they appeared to glow. I looked around to see if anyone else was in the bathroom, when I looked back in the mirror my eyes seemed normal - if you can call semi red irises normal. Genetic mutation that’s the term I’m looking for.   
I took a deep breath, dried my face, took another look at my eyes, they were still ‘normal’ and then I walked back to class.  
“Simon, darn it!”   
“You took way to long,” I said simply.  
“Don’t do that, I thought you were kidnapped or something,” Jason sounded really annoyed with me.   
I laughed, if someone tried to ask Frank for money to get me back, he’d probably tell them to stick it, and to keep me. Frank raised me to take candy from strangers.  
As we walked back I was aware of the temperature, the sun was shining for once, but it was cold, strangely cold. I wondered why? Normally of all the places the inner school corridors were almost always warm.  
I felt better when we got to class, but like I had anticipated before, we didn’t miss anything; the kids were busy with “self-study.”.  
I got my books out and pretended to be busy with my French, I was actually thinking about Robert’s behavior earlier.

“So,” Jason interrupted my thoughts and I nearly jumped.   
“So?” I said trying to form a question he could possibly want to ask that didn’t exist out of a one syllable structure. It seems the conversations I have lately are all these short unintended phrases.  
“Are you feeling better?”  
“I’m still breathing aren’t I, so I guess I’m good.”  
That ended that discussion and I went back to my thoughts, the thing that bothered me about that entire blur during the passing out was that William was part of it.  
“You shouldn’t ditch,” Jason said again and pulled myself back to the present yet again.  
“Huh?” I tried to get what he was saying.   
“I have math and English and you should have class with the rest of us but you’re never there,” he accused and I couldn’t help but frown, why would I be in his English and math classes?  
Then it occurred to me that he didn’t know, why would he?  
“You won’t see me in those classes because I’m in an advanced placement program with both.”  
“What?” he said and he looked really shocked.  
“I’ve been in them since last year. It’s a bit more of a challenge compared to the normal stuff. I mean biology is definitely tougher but-”  
“Biology too?” His eyebrows lifted.  
I shrugged, what more was there to say. Initially I didn’t really do much regarding school work but I had to change. It was then that Will and I started playing this stupid little competition. I guess it was his way of helping me change. We would see how much better we could do than the other in tests and projects. My grades seriously improved but that didn’t really matter to me much. Then we took our subjects and he took more difficult subjects than I did. So I took bio just to make myself feel slightly better. I kept doing well and the idea of escaping home via college or university kept me going. 

“Listen, I’m sorry,” he interrupted my thoughts again. I might as well give up thinking seeing that I’m not getting any done.   
“What about?” I tried to think of a reason, there were many.  
“That comment about your mother.”   
“Life goes on Jason, that little comment didn’t faze me.” I admit, the topic of my mother does bother me slightly. I always feel that she left me without a bit of help. I don’t even have any pictures of her.  
“I didn’t know she’s… that she passed away, otherwise I would not have made the remark.”  
“Hanging around Billy leaves little in the expectation area,” I said softer, not sure if he heard me.  
“Their al idiots.”  
“You noticed?” I said slightly surprised myself.  
“They don’t really think of anyone other than themselves,” he said again and showed a dislike towards Billy and his friends.  
“Does that bother you?” I asked.  
“Of course it bothers me Si_ Raven, I don’t like it,” I could hear his annoyance.   
“Then why do you still hang out with them?”  
“It’s not exactly like I have anywhere else to go; I don’t like being the new guy.”  
“Why?”  
“Because everyone always wants to be your friend until they get to know you and you don’t meet the requirements."  
“Then just come sit at our table, I don’t think anyone will mind,” I said and felt something in my mind protesting.  
There were several moments of silence, I could feel his skepticism but eventually he nodded.  
The bell rang and as I got up Jason pulled me down by my arm.  
“Those bruises on your arm, who gave them to you?” he asked and I knew he waited until now when nobody would hear us over the roar of commotion to ask.  
“Let go Jason, I’m going to be late for class,” I said trying to get hold of my arm again.   
“Tell me,” he said and tightened his grip, his hand was slightly colder than my arm almost like he had been in a freezer.  
“It’s none of your business.”  
“Who was it Raven,” he asked.  
I took a deep breath.   
“Fine but then you keep your nose where it belongs,” I said strictly and for a moment I thought I saw something happen in his eye. He nodded.  
“My dad,” I could feel his grip weaken and pulled my arm free. I walked away without another word.

What have I done? I went to my usual spot during lunch. My table had all the outsiders in it.  
Jason was this cool jock like character, he’d be way out of his element amongst the rest of the crowd, not to mention how they might feel. Was I momentarily crazy or something when I invited him?  
I went to my normal seat with Dmitri and the others.  
“Hey guys,” I said cheerfully but got no response.   
“Do you guys know the new kid, Jason Isis?”  
Dmitri grunted, “Yeah, you can’t miss him, that selfish attention craving jerk? He's rude and doesn’t consider others, only thinks about himself, he has technical drawing with me.”  
Dmitri looked at me, eyes narrowed.   
“Why?” He asked and as he did I could hear the students whisper behind me again.  
I smiled feebly “I kind of invited him to sit with us.” I gave my best innocent look.   
“Forget it Raven, he's not sitting here. You can’t go and decide who gets to sit with us and who doesn’t. There he is now, and he's coming this way, fix it Simon.”  
“Raven,” I corrected for the umpteenth time I turned and saw Jason coming, I quickly darted across the cafeteria to him, I caught him several tables close to the entrance.  
“Sit here,” I warned him and he must have seen the urgency in my face, because he sat down and so did I.  
“What’s wrong Simon?”  
I smirked. “Its Raven, apparently you and Dmitri didn’t hit it off quite well.”  
Jason looked across my shoulder and I was pretty sure that he was looking at a very furious Dmitri.  
I laughed as he smiled and waved a sarcastic friendly manner ‘hey there’ towards Dmitri.  
His smile disappeared, but he was looking in another direction, I turned and saw Robert and Kristen walk through the door, I turned back to Jason

“Friends of yours’ I asked ready to grab my stuff and flee, but reconsidered the idea when his expression showed nothing but discomfort.  
“Not a chance, not them.”  
There was something in the way he said ‘them’. I didn’t want to push the subject, but it was really going to bother me. After all it sounded like he knew them, the way you knew the word police if u were a criminal.   
Association by name.

I was still throwing wild theories around in my head on my way to class.  
“You’re ok!” I turned, it was Ashe  
“Hi?” I frowned.  
“I heard you collapsed,” she looked back, and suddenly she was blushing. “I wondered if you were ok, I was concerned.”  
“Oh,” I said simply still stunned, she was concerned about my wellbeing?  
“I have to go, tourism,” she said while probably also feeling the awkwardness  
“Ok, yeah you should probably go away.” What did I just say!? “I mean go away to class, but not go away in the sense of…” I took a deep breath before making a bigger fool of myself.  
“I’m going to shut up now before I completely humiliate myself. So I guess I’ll see you around.”  
She smiled at me then she was gone and it took me a minute to reconnect my brain with my body and remember where I was going…

I got to class, took a seat next to the window and pulled out my math book.  
Mr. Harding stepped inside the classroom; he looked happy which meant he was planning to make our day crap.  
“Mr. Raven, if you would please take out your work and give me the answers to the questions I gave everyone yesterday,” he said.  
“Which answers?” I asked looking at my answers and hoping that I got them all right.  
“All of them, unless you decided not to do some of the work which I would not like to think was hard,”  
I raised my eyebrows, of course I did the crappy work and it was definitely hard. I had to do some of the problems three times to make sure my answers corresponded. He eyed me, probably hoping that I would admit to not doing a few answers, idiot. 

I was on my way to my last period, very aware that I was going to get nowhere because I was really distracted. After I did those stupid math problems Harding gave us an excessive amount of work because none of my answers were wrong. I felt guilty even though I knew the entire class knew that Harding was an ass, I still feel guilty. I mean if I got any of them wrong then he would have humiliated me, because I got everything right he gave us work. I really don’t like that man, I wish I could just change him into a different person. 

Thankfully I had a free session and I was planning to finish the rest of my math work he gave us outside of the syllabus.   
I finished the three hardest problems ignoring the kids around me who started whispering for somewhat two seconds when someone came walking through the door.  
“We were told to come here,” the calm voice said.  
Oh mother of Murphy.  
I tried not to look up, tried to convince myself that it was a bad idea.  
Don’t look up just don’t look up, then you won’t confirm the voice with the face, resist the urge to…  
Nope.  
I have no self-control. I looked up  
Oh help me god.  
Robert handed a paper to the teacher with Kristen at his side. The way he held her and she held him, it was easy to deduct that they were together. But just the way the held each other: so casual but so extremely intimate.  
“Just take a seat anywhere.”  
Robert scouted for a place, I sunk down in my seat, but it was no use because he still saw me then headed in my direction.  
No, forget it, go sit in the far corner where I’ll eventually forget that you two are here and that you committed bike murder, back away slowly, go back! I warn you go back.  
The irony is that Robert seemed very amused, and then he pulled Kristen back to one of the tables further away from me, good.  
He whispered something in her ear and she grinned and smiled at me.   
Fine, mock me, I will return the favor one day, instead of a bicycle you’ll be riding into a heap of cow droppings, oh yeah, that would be emotionally scarring to clean up, just wait.  
Then Robert spontaneously laughed, I had a sudden urge to throw my pencil-case at him, then decided against it.   
Eventually I overlooked the fact that Robert and Kristen were in the room, I was so caught up in the book I was reading – I finished my homework faster that I had expected – that my attention was only pulled away when the bell pierced through the scene I was playing around in my head.  
“Fascinating book,” Robert said humorously at me, then he patted me on the back, it still hurt, Frank had really gotten aggressive that night, my bruises hurt so intensely still that I had to fight the urge to whimper and now with the pat I had to keep my legs up right. But that wasn't too hard. As long as he didn’t pat me again I might be able to keep a straight face for a little while longer.  
I became aware that rob looked furious, this caught me off guard, he was just joking a moment ago.  
“Thanks?” I said a second too slow but rushed my way out of sight, or at least until I didn’t see them anymore.

I thought I had lost them.   
“Hey Simon.”  
I thought wrong.  
Kristen waved at me, and I waved back. (If you could call the feeble attempt of what I did waving)  
“Hey about your bike, were really sorry about what happened,” she eyed Robert - whoa, where did he just come from? - he smiled but there was no joy in his facial expression.   
“And we were wondering if we could maybe give you a lift home, until we replaced it,” Rob said.  
Were they serious? Did I hear correctly? It sounded like they were going to replace my bike?  
“It’s ok, uhm I’ll walk, and really there’s no need to replace my bike,” if that’s what I heard. “I’m sure your car’s got some damage too. So we’re ok.”  
Kristen and Robert shared a look and with controlled faces looked back at me.  
What was I missing?  
“It’s just-“ Rob started, then turned away to hide his smirk, then he continued, “you didn’t even dent my car”  
I couldn’t believe that, I looked behind them, saw the vehicle and looked carefully.  
Impossible, I couldn’t even see a scratch mark on the car.   
“I’ll walk,” I said, turning around and going because clearly I was losing it, maybe all the years with Frank had caused me to gain cerebral damage. Hadn’t my bike been completely broken beyond repair this morning? Yet that stupid vehicle didn’t even?   
Not a scratch, not a dent or shit!   
But my bike was sent into several directions, probably scattered throughout the globe.  
I would rather walk then go into that indestructible vehicle, not only that but they didn’t need to see my home conditions or else they might run it over with that car of his since its part metal tank.  
I was having difficulty processing the information my brain was unloading.  
I finally concluded that it probably wasn't a normal Mazda; it had probably once been an army tank, that’s why it had no damage I mean what’s a bicycle compared to army tank metal?   
I got home and passed out on the sofa. 

We were all standing in the living room, I knew this living room but it didn’t want to sink in from where,  
It was me, and four shadows, and at my feet there were two Egyptian statues. I stared at the first of the four shadows but that shadow had suddenly been blocked from view by a wall of bricks, I looked at the second shadow, this one had the alphabet flying around its head. Then the letters covered the second, one word formed that I could not read.  
The third held a glass in its hand, but the glass wasn't glass it was something extremely cold, maybe ice, but the third melted and I was finally looking at the fourth. It was holding something in its hand, but I couldn’t see. The fourth dissolved and turned into a grave. From behind the tombstone a smaller shadow arose, it was holding something that rattled like chains  
“Smell the red roses”

I woke up with a headache, I endured until it passed and continued the process of waking up. I feel like I’m getting these headaches routinely around night time for a brief time.  
The sky was painted a red orange color then it faded within five minutes and turned dark. Frank was probably going to be late. I made pasta for the night.  
While I cleaned up I put on the radio.

“Last night several couples were found brutally murdered,  
While investigators are still not letting out any information we have confirmation that they are still unsure of the weapon or weapons used in the assault. But thanks to our sources we know that the user is a professional assassin who specializes in close range slaughtering.”

I turned the radio off again, that was like the seventh time this week that there was a brutal murdering. It made me feel uncomfortable.  
I walked to the window; it was near dark, just the essence of the towns lights were visible from where I stood.  
I heard the wind whisper through the trees.  
Then I heard a branch rustle.  
I looked at the tree where I thought I heard the rustle come from; it had lost most of its branches, so it was almost impossible to perfectly hide yourself. I concentrated, listening for any more sounds that were unnatural, but nothing, and I was definitely not going to go and make sure there was no-one in that tree.  
I was nine-thirty, Frank was still not home, I guess he must have gone to a pub for the night. That was fine by me. I locked al the doors and went to sit at the front porch and take in the serenity of the trees. If there’s a crazy animal thing out there, it better not spoil my ‘me time’ or else there will be consequences  
There were two people, they were talking about something I heard the conversation  
You have no idea, no idea of who he was. You take someone who just does things, who sees a thing as big as that without flinching, you take someone with a destroyed heart, you take someone who was dangerous to begin with and you give that person … what you get is a weapon of great danger. You have no idea of what you’re dealing with.   
I've seen  
You’ve seen nothing. You saw what you wanted to but you don’t know anything. I’m the only one. It’s always been like that. Let me deal with this.   
I woke up


	7. worse day

I got up, showered, locked my room and shoved the key in my pocket, I felt less bruised and more myself. I walked to school, didn’t really mind walking, my deceased bike was just an accessory I had, I was lucky to have one in the first place. It a good thing though, because walking gives me more time to think and just clear my head.   
It hit me that I actually woke up happy this morning.  
I felt like singing a song - my vocal ability could probably raise the dead - right now I didn’t care at all if anyone heard me.  
I got to school and was browsing my locker and had to listen to the nagging of Dmitri. But Even Dmitri couldn’t spoil my mood, though I was ignoring him for that incident with Jason.   
“Are you even listening to me Simon?”  
“Nope, never paid attention when you started yapping on and on wasting air, but by all means continue and I’ll pretend to listen to you.” I said. Wait, did I just say that out loud?  
He didn’t yap on.   
Jason phoned me and told me he had the flu. So I had to help him tomorrow when he got back, with math and French. I looked behind me, trying to see who was talking behind my back about me, I could hear them whispering and I wanted to-  
“Hey Simon,” great, Kristen.  
“Can I talk to you?”  
I nodded and followed her not seeing the girls who were whispering behind us, they shut up. As I followed I noticed Dmitri glaring at me, I guess he hit a nerve. Usually I’m careful not to voice my thoughts.  
“What’s up Kristen?” I asked still thinking of Dmitri’s face, trying not to find the situation too funny.  
“It’s about something you said the yesterday, that’s been bothering rob a bit”  
“What did I say?” Robert and I have barely spoken two words. Maybe more but point is in the sense of conversation we’ve barely spoken ever.  
“Well you mentioned an aunt of mine.”  
“I did?” I am astounded, when did this conversation take place between rob and myself?   
“Yeah but you named her something else, normally she is quite pretentious, she calls herself lady but you said something like ladies estimated, but rob was just wondering why you said it or whether you knew her?”  
I shook my head; I don’t even know when I said that, I couldn’t remember.  
“Well that’s fine, we were just curious to know whether you knew her-“  
She was cut short, I understood why.  
It was hard to miss the smell of gas early in the morning. The science lab was just one class away from us.   
I looked around, everyone else had disappeared, it was only Kristen and me.  
When did that happen?  
Then I heard something click somewhere, or not click but rather flick. Like the sound those wires in the movies make, when they send sparks out.  
I heard the sound one more time than a different sound came, like whoosh, I saw the flames as they came at us the door flew to my left, there was fire inside the classroom and then something metallic erupted from the flames, a chair and by the looks of it, it was heading for Kristen. Within that split second some part of me decided to be heroic, not that it mattered. The chair was being followed by the flames that would easily burn us both to a crisp, but still, I started to jump.   
But I didn’t get anywhere, I didn’t even move, I wanted to jump so badly, I gave the order yet I still could not move, like I was being forced down.  
This made me mad, which I realized I had been for a few moments now, I didn’t even know why I was this mad, I decided to calm down and I did, even though I still felt the need to be angry.  
It really didn’t feel like I was getting all this done within a split second, but that split second ended and everything sped up again and still I couldn’t move.  
The chair came and I watched in horror as it was about to decapitate Kristen.


	8. even worse

Denial is a state of mind, though if you want to be funny you can call it a very long river.  
I don’t know what to say, I'm in the state of mind right now and not the river.  
What is there to say when you see the chair barely two meters away, moving so fast that you know it’s going to go straight through flesh considering the force behind it?   
When you see the girl lifting both her hands as though they could protect her against the approaching death and thinking duck but incapable of saying it?  
What can you say, when you see the chair stopping in midair. When her hands swing in an angle over her head and the metal chair follows then speeds of into that trajectory.   
Not hurting her. Not cutting her apart. Going in the course she sent it in.

What can you say?  
I'm losing it, that’s what you say.  
I could move again, I just knew it, but now I didn’t have the will power to move.  
Kristen suddenly froze, I knew why; she had probably just remembered that I was here.  
She spun around and seeing her face made me retain my will power over my legs.  
“Simon?” She asked cautiously, knowing that I saw what she did.  
“It’s pretty obvious I’m more messed up than I thought,” I said and clenched my fist. I don’t know this reaction but it seemed like something in me wanted to rejoice and scream in triumph of sorts. I can’t understand it. It was like I wanted to fist bump the air but the reasoning behind it is beyond me.   
I raised my hand and pointed my finger at her, not sure why. I wanted to say something else but my voice wouldn’t work, I clenched my fist, wondering if I should shove it in my mouth as to retain myself from yelling as the voice demanded inside of me.   
“Is Raven,” I managed to respond to what she said.   
Other students were gathering now, no doubt they were curious to see what had caused the racket this side. I used the opportunity to get out, I needed thinking time, what happened just dawned on me, sort of. What did just happen?

The principle announced that there was a gas leak (duh) and that one of the lights had busted, causing the explosion. Seriously what are the odds?  
Class wasn't cancelled even though that might have been a better option. No one actually wanted to work; they used the incident as a basis for excuses and conversation.  
I had other things on my mind, something I’m not even sure I should be thinking about. But I did see that chair stop in midair like it had hit a very thick wall.  
Then it looked like she threw it, without even touching it.  
The incident kept replaying in my head.  
I had a good moment during my free period in the science class, Billy accidently knocked over a highly flammable fluid on his shirt after I told him that it would make his shirt change color. When I told him that it was a highly flammable substance, he disregarded the warning and took out a lighter to prove me wrong. He had to find out the hard way that I wasn’t wrong, I find it surprising how susceptible he is to reverse psychology. I’m just glad that he didn’t obtain serious injuries. I let the event distract me for a few minutes before I remembered Kristen and what she did.   
The day ended and I made sure to leave the premises before someone - who still had her head in tact - could see me.  
I half ran home, but the forest felt like it was bigger, longer, never ending.  
I stopped running.   
I stood on the very line that separated the forest from its two sides, now I was standing in the middle of the boundary line.

There was something there, I knew for certain, it what starring directly at me, I couldn’t see it but I just knew. It was something of the same feeling I got the other morning when my footsteps were too slow  
It’s interesting, knowing that I only need to take a few steps and I could be within reach of whatever the thing was, I wanted to I really did, I wasn't scared. Why am I this curious to see what’s there?  
I sighed, thing could wait, I needed to go. So I started walking home.  
I felt my phone vibrate.  
“Hello?”   
“Simon?”  
“It’s Raven!”  
I hung up. I should have known it would be her, stupid Kristen.  
Great.  
I actually forgot about it and now it was fresh in my brain, mind you, who could ever forget about something like that.

What did she do?  
How did she do it?  
What is she?

I reached the log and sat down with my head in my hands.  
I tried hard to think about what she had done or how.   
Crack  
It had followed me…  
Kristen. It. Kristen. It. Kristen. It

Kristen was doing something that was impossible, there’s no way I can just go to her and see her do whatever she did again.  
It was behind me, concealed yes but still, I could follow it and if it didn’t run (it might devour me) I could see what it was if I followed. That sounded more promising and stupid.  
Find out what creature awaits on the other side, and also at the same time stand a chance to be eaten alive. Decisions, decisions…life was full of hard ones. I think I choose to be stupid.   
I left my bag on the log and started into the dark forest.  
It was going in deeper, I pursued.  
It was cold but I didn’t give up, curiosity was really getting to me. Luckily I didn’t have any difficulty seeing, my eyes adapted fast in the dark, and in the darker side of the forest it was really dark.  
It was obvious; the sun was starting to set and it wasn't going to be seen today.  
Then I will come tomorrow. If only I didn’t realize I was lost.

No doubt about it, I didn’t know left from right at the moment.  
I started wandering around, clueless in the part of this stupid forest that I didn’t know.  
Time was moving on, my legs were starting to get tired. How could I have been wandering around here without keeping track of my surroundings?   
I needed to get out of here and go home…  
It was close by again, I heard movement behind me.   
That little voice in my head was loud and clear.  
Follow!  
Who am I to not listen to my mental voices?  
So I followed.  
Ironically enough, the footsteps eventually led me to the lighter side of the forest, yet I could still not see what I have been following for the last few minutes, it was good at hiding itself.  
I was back at the log where I left my bag earlier. Talk about luck. The house wasn’t far away.  
My energy was drained, I had to walk but there was no concern there, walking was good, running would be better though. Walking gave me too much thinking time. The problem with today is that there was a lot to think about that I’d rather not be.   
I was starting to think about Kristen again when I heard Billy’s voice  
Then I saw him, he was accompanied by two of his friends, this was not good, earlier today I tricked him into setting his shirt on fire- obviously indicating his lack of intelligence- and he must want vengeance, and if he knew I was here he would seek it, it would be easier with his friends. I could see it now; they would keep me down while he would mutilate my body further. I wasn’t ready for that to happen.  
I took a left and kept my distance, if they didn’t see me I would be good, but as I passed into the second pathway, a third friend I didn’t see was walking on it, he looked up and I could see him registering exactly who I was, yelling my name to the others, and then he sprinted forward.   
It has begun: the game of cat and mouse

I started running; all the pathways that would have made it easier to escape were in the opposite direction, I had to go back to get into those safety ways but with Billy and the others going back was out of the question. I knew where I had to go from here now, the splitting boulder (I named it) that lay precisely on the line of the forest I knew by heart and the dark forest.  
The slight dilemma was that the light forest would result in a dead end if I chose it, the dark forest would be unfamiliar territory.  
The boulder came and I decided against my better judgment that familiar surroundings would be more beneficial, so I turned right.  
I was wrong.  
Hiding was a natural talent of mine, when I hid I could be undetectable, but that depended on how big of a surface area I had to play with, the grass stood tall here and there were several bushes and one tree, surrounded by boulders.  
A dead end.  
I went for the smallest bush. That wouldn’t be too obvious.   
They arrived shortly after I managed to slip myself uncomfortably into the bush. They probably noticed that this was a dead end too.  
“Spread out and find him, he's around here somewhere.” Billy yelled out.

I was very uncomfortable, I started getting a cramp in my foot but ignored it as best I could, Sam – Billy’s best friend - was on his way in my direction, I slowed my breathing, this was bad: he was coming directly at me. I scanned their formation, I could run pass them, but I had to stay clear of Billy, nobody could get by him, but if I could somehow get out of their reach and run they wouldn’t be able to get me, especially if I could build momentum, then I was beyond catchable. Sam walked passed me, to the bush behind the one I was in.  
Buzz.   
Hell NO!!!  
Anything but this, I could feel it in my pocket.  
Someone was calling me, Kristen no doubt - and my phone would vibrate before it starts ringing. As fast and quietly as I possibly could I reached for my pocket with my phone inside, one more vibration left, I silenced my phone in time and thought of the gratitude I would show should I ever meet the individual who designed the red button-   
My foot slipped.  
The branches all crushed under its pressure.  
I could have been someone sneezing during exams, breaking the silence, making all the others aware of them. But in this case it was worse; I could see all the eyes starring in my direction, then Billy grinned, his satisfaction was obvious. It was now or never.

I shoved both my feet against the ground and I pushed as hard as I could. I sprinted out of the bushes, surprising them. Sam tried to grab me but I ducked underneath him, then Billy came, somehow I evaded him and ran straight to the cliff, they were behind me, I was safe, my speed would provide me with that. I got to the cliff faster than before, I heard Billy and the others running after me, at least I was too fast for them.  
I started to the path where I saw them earlier, and then froze.  
For the love of –   
How many of them were here, did they normally travel in packs?   
Three more of Billy’s fellow mates were on the other side running toward me, Billy and the others were also catching up from behind me, I had two options left, stay and endure or go into the darker side of this forest and face whatever danger awaits in there…danger it is.   
So I took the dark forest.   
Once past the trees I felt the temperature change; it was like walking into a freezer after you’d been in the sun a whole day. I could see my breath when I exhaled, I ran past a few trees with the determined Billy and his friends behind me. Besides the dreadful cold that cut through my lungs it was really dark now, luckily for my eye accommodation that had already adapted to the change in light. It was a good thing because this meant I knew when there were roots and branches I had to jump over.  
I looked behind me and somehow the guys were catching up, I must have been losing my speed, no surprise. I had wasted so much energy earlier and I needed to give my body chance after every sprint. Just like everyone else I couldn’t keep a constant sprint up for too long.  
Of course my biggest mistake was looking behind me.  
A rogue root suddenly caught my foot and I was temporarily suspended in the air, the landing would hurt, because not only had I been running severely fast but the ground had sunk into what I could see to be a ditch.  
I fell but the landing didn’t hurt as much as I had expected it would, instead I fell into what would appear to be a collection of leaves, and to top that: it was soft and warm. I let my hand move across the soft/warm surface.   
No…  
It wasn’t a surface; in fact it was hairy like an animal’s fur. Not like…it was an animal’s coat, and the animal was breathing and alive, I could feel a heartbeat.  
I heard a low growl and felt the rhythm of the beating heart being disturbed. My eyes adapted to the new dark, and I could see the pattern on the fur, dark yellow with black spots: a leopard.  
Its eyes opened and it lifted its nose in the air, smelling the newest scent amongst all the others, then it turned its head to me.  
I closed my eyes, and I heard Billy and the others getting closer, not good, they had to go slower, if they were lucky this leopard would have killed me and be satisfied with one easy meal. I didn’t want it to go after them as well. Maybe when they see the leopard and run with fear it might leave them and finish me up.  
I waited for the onslaught, the ripping and the clawing, the intense bites and physical pain  
Nothing happened.  
…Either my ears were deceiving me or I heard purring.   
But before I could confirm, Billy and the others had reached us.   
“Get out, you guys have to run, there’s a leopard!” I yelled in case they couldn’t see in time.   
I didn’t hear them running, instead they were laughing.   
“This is going to be interesting, come on kitty eat up!”  
How unkind, of all the things that they could have done, they actually wished me the ill will I was ready to be granted upon myself. That I should willingly have sacrificed myself to allow these vultures a chance of escape is preposterous.   
Like they deserved to escape? To live while I should die for them?  
My anger seemed to be overflowing inside my body. I felt that I might rupture at any moment, somehow I thought that this anger could stream out of me, I looked at the cat next to me.  
Fine.  
If it was going to attack I might as well give it the needed lust, of course sending anger into another being isn’t possible but I just thought take it all, I began feeling composed, this must be some kind of mind over matter thing. The leopard didn’t move, but his face proved that he was ready to kill, somehow I couldn’t remember that expression, I must not have been paying much attention.  
“Come on you stupid animal, eat him!”  
Of all the unfair this world has to offer, I might get killed by this animal while those savages would watch and encourage him on, and if anything it is them that should be in my position and that would be right, the justice system would be corrected.  
But there is no justice; it turned his hind legs parallel to each other, paws pointed at me, back positioned to pounce. His front body lowered, I could see the muscles in the body tightening, the lust in the eyes, his back legs suddenly becoming still, knowing how they should jump, just waiting for the brain to give the order. I could see the tension in him build. I closed my eyes. I accepted my fate.  
‘Just do it.’  
I heard the leaves move, felt a sudden gust of wind, saw through my closed eyes a darkness moving forward and I felt warmth touch my shoulder…… Then it was gone?  
I opened my eyes when I heard screaming from behind me, I was still standing, I turned around to see the tip of his tail moving after them.  
Maybe there is justice in this world.  
The leopard wasn’t coming back I just knew it somehow, though I won’t wait to test out the theory.  
I started walking back home.  
I didn’t see any bodies on the path, that’s good, I guess. It meant that nobody’s been killed.  
It was dark when I got home; my cell phone informed me that it was 20:07, my battery is so drained. My phone needs a serious charge, I can see it dying any moment now.  
The front door stood open, all the lights were off, except the kitchen light, small wonder were Frank is;  
He hadn’t parked his truck in the garage; he must have been preoccupied because he had forgotten something on the hood too, I’ll just get it later.  
As I walked to the house, I tripped over a bottle or something but didn’t bother seeing what it was, I can get it later.   
In the living room I looked at the kitchen door, it stood closed.  
I went into the kitchen.  
“Where have you been?”  
His voice told me that his mood was bad, more than most of the time.  
“I was in the forest.”  
“What for?”   
Something wasn’t right. My gut agreed on this thought.   
I could see in his posture that he was far from sober. I smelled a mixture of scents in the air that comprised mainly of, scotch, whiskey, beer, and some other stuff. I felt all the nerves in my body go slightly tense. There’s no way one person could drink so much since he got home unless he came home early.   
“What for?” He asked again and looked at me with droopy drunk smitten eyes. He took a gulp from a bottle of whiskey. I took a deep breath; the kitchen air reeked of alcohol. It made me cringe mentally, it hurt my nose to keep smelling it, so I breathed through my mouth, I just hope I don’t get drunk this way.   
“Biological components and their habitat in which they grow,” I lied easily.  
“Do you think am stupid? Afer all theees yeas you reall thing using fanshy big wordsss to confuse me means I don’t know your lying? You’re not out there doing school work, you’re doing the other stuff, the sssluff that woman does!”  
I know he’s talking about Gran, he never refers to her as my Grandmother or his mother in law; it’s always ‘that woman’.  
“I don’t know what you’re talking about dad,” I tried hopelessly.  
“Don’t lie toooo me, you, and that horrible woman.”  
“She’s not a horrible woman!” I interrupted without thinking.  
“How dare you talkto me like that!” he jumped up and pushed the table forward, I backed up a little to avoid it.   
I looked away, my mind was racing and shouting orders that mainly wanted me to run and hide in my room. I looked outside; remembering that I tripped over something and knew it was a bottle of something alcoholic.   
He came closer to me, his breath made me nauseous.  
“For the last sixteen years of my life I’ve taken care of you, this is how you talk to me after everything I've done for you?” his glare made me feel like a bug, like I have no purpose being here, like I should be sucked into the black vortex that is his eyes or crushed beneath his feet.   
“I’m sorry,” I said and looked away. “I didn't mean to.”  
He grabbed me by the hair and tightened his hold making me cringe as he pulled tighter.   
“You are a self-righteouss brat with no re- respect for anyone. You’re a monster, every time I look at you all I see is the monster. There is no good in you.” He pulled me by the hair and threw me down on the ground.   
“Do you think I want to take care of a monster?” he yelled, “do you!?”  
I shook my head; if I speak it’ll only make it worse.   
“To help nourish your little ungrateful ass, feed you, provide you with clothes, provide you with a bike that I haven’t seen lately!”  
“You didn’t even buy the bike; we found it when we moved in.” I said as I got up slowly and I regretted it immediately.   
“What’d you say?” He rushed to me and I grabbed something, a knife and held it out to him in a threatening manner. I looked at his expression, then I looked at the knife, something in my brain resented the idea of holding on to this weapon and I flung open my hand and the knife fell to the ground.  
“Nothing, I’m sorry, I don’t know_” Frank grabbed my shoulder and punched me before I even registered what he was doing. I held my face as I leaned against the cupboard. The initial shock of being punched in the face by Frank is what made me unable to move. After all these years he has never punched me in the face, it’s always been the parts of the body that I could hide, my arms, my lower abdomen, and my legs. Never the face. I began panicking slightly.   
“Dad,” I said softly.  
He kicked me in the stomach. I doubled over and received another blow to my back.   
Then another and another.  
Another.  
He stopped after some time, I could feel each bruise distinctly, my face felt warm and sore. I got up slowly, staying down would look weak. I couldn’t help but hold on to my stomach, nothing would fall out but the pain; the pain demanded some comfort. I used the cupboard for support; I saw little dots in my vision but stayed up.   
“I won’t do this anymore, I'm tired of seeing it in your face, the monster that you really are.”  
I looked at Frank, none of this makes any sense and what set him off? I heard a drawer opening and closing, I looked at the kitchen, everything just looked chaotic. In my hindsight I saw movement, he came at me again and in his eyes I saw it, no mercy. I turned to run but he grabbed me by the collar of my shirt and took another swing at my face. I think I felt the skin as it tore this second time.   
“Dad, please stop, I’ll be better, I promise.” I felt so pathetic, like a whimpering dog.  
“Shut up!” he yelled at me and the sudden pain he lunged at my side made me gasp for breath. Another kick and another, they just kept coming. I tasted bile in my mouth, I couldn’t get rid of the taste. The last blow came and gave birth to a pain in my shoulder that felt excruciating, the pain stretched throughout my whole arm and it never stopped, I remember hearing a ‘pop’ sound but I couldn’t place it in my mind.   
He stopped and again I got up but very slowly, my left arm hurt so badly and I kept seeing little dots in my vision. I could barely stand. I coughed but I tried not to move my arm. I looked up to see why Frank stopped his onslaught, I swallowed whatever I felt accumulating in my mouth, I think it might be blood.  
I looked up and saw him, he stood far away from me, very still, his eyes content on me, I could feel my lower jaw shake as I breathed, breathing hurt me. I noticed in his hand a silver object and the image registered in my mind even though thinking was difficult. Frank clutched the knife handle so tightly that his knuckles were turning white. I remember when I ran short distances for school, it’s the silence before that gun is fired that scares you, that silence that feels like it lasts forever and at the same time is barely a moment worth noticing. As I stood looking at Frank and he at me, that moment was there, infinite and probably miniscule, the gun only needed to be fired. My heart beat in my head like a drum, faster than it probably ever has in my life. I imagined I heard a girl singing a melodic hymn that was so mesmerizing it made the hair on my neck stand on edge.  
There came no gunshot but something did start him, he lunged at me, I grabbed his arm and used his own weight to throw him of balance but the action was ill advised as my body went into agony. I started running but felt him grab my shirt, I turned and used my foot to get a chair between the two of us, Frank fell over it. I ran upstairs, every muscle and nerve on the rise of agony, every step like another kick to my body. I got to my room and the door wouldn’t open. I cursed myself remembering that I locked it this morning. I took the key out of my pocket and fumbled with the lock. I heard the steps as Frank came up, I added haste and finally got the key in and unlocked the door. I rushed inside my room and saw Frank basically upon me, I closed the door as fast as I could and struggled with the key again. I got the key in but Frank was on the other side, pushing the door open  
“No!” I pushed back as hard as I could but Frank was stronger than I am. He pushed me back and I felt a sharp pain in my right arm. I stumbled back and Frank came in, fear made me react and I thrust my hand against his jugular. He dropped the knife and held his throat; I managed to kick him back and then locked the door.   
I grabbed my schoolbag and shoved a few pieces of clothing in. most of my stuff is already at Gran’s, I just had a few good shirts here. I took a white shirt and frowned, there were red smudges on it. I tried to understand the red, though my brain felt all frizzy. I looked at the red smudge and then noticed it was freshly wet. I looked at my right arm, a deep cut bled out on my arm and I immediately tried to tie the shirt around it. My left arm felt numb but still hurt. I forced myself to close the wound and then sat down for a moment to catch my breath. Frank started slamming on the door yelling profanities but I paid him no attention. My head spun so badly.   
I put on my CD player and put the volume on max. I couldn’t hear Frank over the music and vice versa. I climbed out of my window and as I slowly climbed down my brain had a stupid moment and I fell. I shoved my mouth in my hand and tried not to scream with pain. The thin layer of snow made the impact less painful and I got up and started running. Each breath seemed to cause me more pain than the last.   
It’s so damn cold, both my arms hurt like something beyond my understanding and I didn’t have that much energy left in me. I tripped twice and got two scratches. May I add that carrying one bag is hell especially because I couldn’t use my arm with the shoulder pain? It didn’t take well to any odd pressure of any kind.   
I took out my phone and as luck would have it, it was dead.   
Just one of those times when a phone is of no use, dies when I need it most. Damn it!  
I kept on walking but I felt so tired and I think scared, I had to keep an eye out in case Frank started looking for me. He has to find out eventually that I’m not in that room anymore, if he doesn’t know already.   
I wanted to go to Gran’s, but I don’t have energy, my only possible alternative is school, its closer. I find it funny that of all the places I end up going for sanctuary, I end up at school. I had to rest first before I could go any further. I got to the log where I knew the dark forest loomed ever so close. I closed my eyes, every part of my body throbbed. I couldn’t concentrate and both my arms were blazing. I focused on how to get to school fastest. It wouldn’t be easy, not with my body’s condition. I couldn’t focus, I tried to think but couldn’t. I was hurting too much. I imagined the school gate, got myself mentally prepared and got my bags. Something happened, I was gone from the world and my existence no longer mattered for I didn’t exist. I breathed and existed again. My mind became numb. What was I doing, what am I doing right now? I zoned back in and looked up to see the school ahead. How did I just get here? Wasn’t I just in the forest by the log? I must have blacked out and subconsciously walked here. That’s the only explanation that I can think of.   
The only problem with the whole school sanctuary is that it still counts as private property. I don’t know how I'm going to get inside especially considering the fact that there is security that keep an eye out for any criminal activities.   
My stomach turned, I felt heavy, a strange foreign heavy. I couldn’t explain it, but this odd heaviness was slowly beginning to overwhelm every part of my body.  
I was tired, I threw my bags on the ground, I just needed to rest, a little shut eye. This strange feeling was wearing me out. I fell asleep, incapable of staying conscious with all the pain.

Let me go because I’m ready to go, to go and be freed and be the reason why I belong to you.  
Words whispered in my head as I walked down the hallway of this strange place. I didn’t know my location, but I followed the roses. I knew one thing, I felt rage, I don’t know why but this anger holding on to me was heavy. I missed her, why did she leave me. After everything, after it all, there is no hope. Nothing. Just wrath, mine.  
Shall we?  
Yes. Destroy it.

“You can’t be here, get up!”  
The security guard shook me by the shoulder, the pain soared through me like fire. I couldn’t respond to the guard, my brain had to process my physical condition first. In the back of my mind I could still feel that anger from my dream, like it was molding around in my body.  
“Come on get up!” I heard his tone change, he was getting more aggressive. Like I was a hindrance to him, an annoyance that he had to take care of. I tried to pick myself up from the ground, the weight of my body proved too much and I went back down.   
“Get up!” He barked at me and I felt it, that anger molding itself through my body, finding partial solace in my hands that were now fists. He grabbed me by the arm in what I was sure would have been an attempt to pull me up, but the pain of it was unbearable. I instinctively grabbed his arm with my other hand and something happened. When I touched him I think he might have jerked back a bit, not that it mattered, I felt release. The anger dispersed, the weight my body felt had lifted and I suddenly felt depleted of energy. I let go immediately when my shoulder burst into pain, I suddenly experienced an extreme exhaustion. Consciousness was beginning to slip. It has to be the blood loss.  
“Listen,” I said but it wasn’t me speaking. My mouth spoke out of its own, like a different person spoke through my voice. “I will stay here tonight, understand? “  
“Alright, but I’m not supposed to.”  
“Regardless, I will stay here tonight,” the other me said and I tried not to feel so surprised. How had I suddenly managed this situation completely to my favor? I can’t explain it, it’s like I know that whatever I say now, everything is in my hands.  
“Yes, sir,” he said and let me in and left me to my own.   
I sneaked in and rested outside one of the classes for a few moments. I could feel that exhaustion take its toll on me so before I gave into it I went to deal with my few belongings and hid behind the dumpster by the cat with one eye. I felt dizzy, sick and exhausted. I took some fresher clothes to the bathroom but my eyes were so heavy. I put my stuff on the counter, sat down on the bathroom floor, closed my eyes and drifted into a dream.   
I woke up from the pain first. I was still tired but the insufferable arms and cold windy air made it difficult to stay asleep especially in a tiled room. I looked at the shirt around my arm, it looked horrible, I unwrapped it and winced as the last part with dried blood stuck to my arm. I forced the shirt off with a tug and exclaimed as the sensation forced every nerve in me to react.   
“Shit!” I’ve reopened the wound! I could see muscle from inside and some white. Is that my bone? The Flap of skin that was supposed to cover all this dangling bits hung loosely. I pushed back whatever I could into the space in my arm and endured the torment. I put the flap of skin over the open wound and carefully wrapped another shirt over the damaged area.   
I went back outside, my body started shaking violently, I couldn’t control it. My feet gave in beneath me, I pressed my head back against the wall, so exhausted.   
The pain brought me back.   
The cold had dispersed in a manner of speaking. I couldn’t open my eyes but felt like I was between two warm blankets that didn’t really cover me but kept me from dying. My shoulder and arm didn’t hurt as much, my brain wouldn’t process anymore. I was on a cloud. I started floating higher, my mind being pulled back by something, I vaguely remember the things that should matter, my father, cancer, Kristen being able to shield herself against that…  
My eyes sprung open, dots were dancing in front of the black that was my vision. My imaginative blankets moved away. The important thing is that Kristen shielded herself. She made a shield and that means…absolutely nothing.   
During that adrenaline rush I could have imagined the whole thing. I might have been slightly delusional.  
Even if I don’t believe that I imagined the whole thing, I have nothing to go on. No proof that I saw Kristen shi_   
I took a deep painful breath, with my arms I’ve forgotten all the pain in my abdomen and everywhere else. It’s hard to breath.   
The mind is a mysterious thing and mine was probably going crazy.  
Someone came in at the gate, another student. I got up and cleaned myself in the bathroom, changed shirts and pants put on some deodorant and made sure that I didn’t look too bad. I put on a cap and brought it down to hide my bruised face. The blood on my arm had dried up and I just needed it to stay that way, I went back to class. I had to do something about my physical appearance, I was pale, and nothing I did could do anything about that. Not to mention that I had an unexplainable pain in my shoulder, unlike any pain I know.  
I guess that something to digest would be better than dealing with school on an empty stomach given my current condition. I went to the convenience store, I was limping, my leg hurt badly, luckily it was only bruised, nothing broken.   
I bought a pie and a coke but kept tasting blood as I ate.   
I started back to school, I waited by the robot and realized that on this morning the was way too much traffic, I reached out to push the button when I felt the wound on my arm reopen and blood began oozing out again accompanied by pain. The shirt reddened up fast and I knew it wouldn’t soak up enough blood to give me a chance to get a different shirt from my limited clothing supply. I needed something like a bandage-  
Aisle 3!   
I ran back into the store, got the bandages and the disinfectant, paid for it and immediately applied both. Forcing myself not to scream at the shoulder pain.  
Déjà vu.   
I forced myself to believe that the breakfast would keep me going until I could figure out what I was going to do. The bell rang and I headed to biology. I heard whispering again, why am I so attuned to people whispering lately? I shook the tingly feeling. While walking to class I started remembering last night, my body started to shake again, dizziness joined in. Do I, I mean should I go back home, back to the man who tried to –  
I bumped into someone and it sent every cell into a swearing frenzy, my shoulder, my arm, my body literally started screaming in synchronization. I maintained my composure.  
Did Frank try to kill me, did he just want to hurt me, teach me a lesson? What did Frank try to do to me last night? If he did do what he wanted to…?  
I saw a picture in the newspaper, the title reading: Man brutalizes son to death.  
I suddenly realized that I hadn’t continued walking on after bumping into…I looked up at  
Robert?  
“Sorry,” I apologized, and then looked at him, he looked pretty pissed off. I could see in his eyes, sheer disgust and vivid anger. His eyebrows narrowed, his jaw tightened, it seemed that his entire body was shaking, not from cold or any physical reasons apparently or not apparently but most obviously out of sheer will power not to do something irrational or stupid. Like he was keeping himself contained. Clearly bumping into him ticked him off.   
“What’s wrong with your shoulder?” He asked and I could hear the controlled shaking in his voice.  
“Nothing,” I lied and tried to keep the shakes under control.   
“Don’t lie to me,” he said coolly.  
“I’m not.”  
He put his hand exactly on the spot where my shoulder hurt like hell and the next thing I knew I was in anguish.  
“It’s dislocated Raven.”  
“I fell,” I lied again. I have my pride.  
“Robert,” I started but his hand tightened on my shoulder and I nearly faltered to the ground when I felt a violent shove and heard another pop sound. The pain in my shoulder was different, the echo pain of a dislocation.   
I turned to him when the cap on my head was suddenly lifted.  
“Let me guess, you fell?” He said without any humor.  
“Vigorously,” I said looking him in the eyes. This is nothing major, I mean a few beatings here and there, the fact that I’m alive means it shouldn’t be a bother. “It was a high tree, I was saving a cat.”   
He clenched his fist and without saying anything he shoved the cap in my hands and walked away.  
I’m not sure how to respond.  
I stood alone in the school corridor only noticing that everyone had already reached their class, I made a personal note to stay clear of Robert and to never bump into him again, ever.  
I should thank him for my shoulder though but if looks could kill I’d be a goner.  
I had to draw the kidney and its microscopic component on the board for biology.  
I started with the basic sketch but my memory didn’t want to recall most of the labels, in fact it bothered me since I didn’t have bad memory and considering that my biology happens to be one of my more redeeming subjects I knew that this wasn't supposed to be a problem.   
‘We are waiting mister Raven and please take of that cap.”  
I turned and stared at Ms. Whitely. The corners of the classroom were becoming white, little dots danced everywhere. I’ve reached my limit, I lasted longer than usual, I saw the shadows beneath the seats and they looked like they were dancing. Everything went white. 

I woke up in a hospital bed, I had my own private room. My arm was bandaged up, I actually expected a cast. The whispering in my ear slowly subdued and I looked up and saw gran standing with a doctor by the door.   
“I’ve never seen anyone heal at that speed before, even for our kind. A wound like his should have received a cast but at the rate his body is repairing itself the actual damage has decreased in the time that he’s been here.”  
“You made sure that nobody would raise questions?” I don’t know what they were talking about, I felt my eyes closing again.   
“They have no memory of it. Make sure he doesn’t use too much….”  
I came back to again. “Gran?” I tried to say but my voice was raspy and tasted funny. Suddenly I was embraced by soft hands   
“Careful Gran your soft side is showing,” I joked with her I could smell the lavender perfume that always made my nose itchy.  
She lightly tapped me on the shoulder.   
“Oh god the pain!” I yelled out and turned my head into the pillow.   
“Oh! Raven, I am so sorry I didn’t think!” she exclaimed.  
“It’s cool, I’m just screwing with you,” I grinned widely and saw her expression change from shock to anger.   
“You horrible little monster, you could have given me a heart attack!” she yelled at me.   
“Little monster? You know when it comes to size, I’m bigger than you, right?”   
“It’s like you’re a duck and life is water that doesn’t affect you like it usually does others.”  
“I’m special.”  
“When the school phoned and told me you had to go to the hospital,”  
“The school phoned you?” I thought Frank was my need to call person.  
“Your friend Jason told them not to call that man,” she said through gritted teeth.   
Behind her Jason made an appearance and smiled at me and somehow I found myself grateful for him knowing the truth.  
“What happened to you?”  
There was no use postponing what I should have done a long time ago. I told them what happened, I feel Jason has earned the right to know too.   
At the end of my story Gran had fallen into an uncomfortable and very intimidating silence and Jason just seemed repulsed, maybe I shouldn’t have given them the whole truth.  
“Well it’s time to get you home,” she said with a very controlled expression. She got up and walked to the door, I heard her fall into a coughing fit outside. I looked at Jason, he gave me a nod and I felt an understanding there. He left and once again, I closed my eyes.   
They will be quite interested in you.  
It’s never been heard of really


	9. home

So home means the mansion, not sure for how long but I will not raise any questions that need not be raised. The Doctor wasn’t all that thrilled to let me go so soon, but one thing you don’t disagree with is a headstrong and intimidating grandmother of mine. He tried to and she went into danger Gran mode and by the time she was finished saying whatever she had said to him he had turned five shades lighter. He said I needed a lot of bed rest.  
I was surprised when Jason phoned me and invited me to his house for the day. I agreed on the spot but now I feel like I might regret it for some reason.   
Gran didn’t mind me going; in fact she seemed relieved once I announced the invite. Damn her, I was hoping she would say no.  
Gran told me to go with my car, not that it was the best thing for me to be driving in the first place, but I am nothing if not a rebel from time to time. After all, rules are for fools and I don’t really like being told what to do. Probably got that from Gran. It is a little reckless of her to let my drive after I just got out of the hospital today  
I had to meet Jason halfway seeing that I had no idea in the slightest as to where he lived. I followed him until we headed to the more luxurious neighborhoods. His house was the two story house. The odd thing was that Gran’s house was bigger.   
We chilled in Jason’s room. I had to admit that it was certainly impressive. He had a flat screen TV with an x-box in his room and a decent up to date computer. His stereo would definitely shake the house but not lift the roof at full volume; his walls were covered in various posters, sports cars, bikini girls, game covers and a few pictures of monsters only seen in games.   
Jason gave me one of the game controllers as I made myself comfortable on his rug. The game we were about to play was about magic and dragons.   
“So how are you feeling?” he asked.  
“Well you know, the way every other teenager feels after their father nearly kills them, the usual” I remarked.  
“Heard anything about him yet?”  
I shook my head.  
“What happens when he makes an appearance?”  
“I don’t know and I’d rather talk about something else.”  
“So you like that Ashe chick?”  
I looked up at Jason. It’s like he knew exactly how to bring up the wrong topics.  
“Were not allowed to talk about that either?” he asked in disbelief.  
“Is it that obvious?” I had to ask.  
“No not really, just a little. Sometimes it’s as though you know she’s coming before she even walks into the room.”  
That actually sounded creepy. Like I was a stalker or something with built in radar, no, wait that’s kinda cool. It can’t be true though can it?  
“Why don’t you make a move?”   
“You mental? What chances do I have? She’s way out of my-”  
“Don’t you dare say league, I've seen you and you don’t really care about all that stuff. The only reason that you sat with that pizza faced weirdo is because you let the other kids think you’re in a click, that’s what you want. I don’t think you care whether or not she’s out of your league I think you’re scared that she might reject you.”  
“Of course, who’s not scared of being rejected? But the thing is, if you haven’t noticed my life is a mess. I don’t want to have her part of it, even if the odds aren’t against me, I won’t risk it.”  
“You think her life is easy?” Jason said, this made me look up at him, I could swear that there was a double connotation to his sentence. Like he knew something I didn’t. Not possible, he barely knows her.  
I don’t know what happened to the time, I guess it does fly when you’re having fun, which is probably why I wasn’t use to it anymore. The idea of ever having fun only came up when I thought of Will and the others, when use to hang out. The good old times I suppose, but that’s an old me, in a different life, where I wasn’t judged because of my personality and where people accepted me.  
Jason’s father came home from work; I was caught by surprise when I saw him. I expected a neat and tidy man who would return from work in a suit.   
Jason’s dad had a scruffy beard, he wore a vest and his arm hair didn’t stop by his shoulders. His hair was grey and disorientated, he had no hair on top of his head except for the small island in the front and in all truth he would easily have passed as a biker.   
“Boy’s” he said, there was a strange authority in his voice that I would not have expected based on his appearance.  
“Dad, this is Si- I mean Raven, he’s a friend from school.” Jason said and I got up as he had and shook the man’s hand.  
“So you are the Raven boy,” he said and then he looked down at my arm. “I was hoping that Jason wasn’t serious but I presume that bad things happen to good people.”  
My stomach turned, he was without a doubt talking about the incident with Frank. How could Jason tell him that, doesn’t it count as personal?   
“It happens to the best of us,” I said and smiled. Jason’s father looked at me, his eyes moving as his thoughts tried to organize themselves. I wonder what he was thinking about me, that’s to say if he was thinking something about me.  
“They do,” he said finally, wow what a productive conversation. “I hope to see you again boy, an attitude like yours will do Jason good.”  
“Dad!” Jason sounded embarrassed behind me.  
“Alright, but I’m off again.”  
“But you just got here, why are you going again?” I asked and regretted it immediately, I should know my place.  
“Work never stops boy, you should know-”  
“Dad!” Jason suddenly said, I could hear the warning tone in his voice.  
“O, of course, but yes, work never stops, pleasure again meeting you Raven.” he said and took my hand “Everything will be all right,” as he said it I felt weird, like I walked into a sun lit room and was suddenly hit by the heat, a soothing heat. There was another feeling, like a ringing. I thought for a second that Jason was whispering something behind me but he was looking at his dad and his mouth was closed even though the whispering continued for a brief second later before coming to a halt.  
Jason’s dad left and it was weird, he was a very nice man, strict no doubt, judging by his tone but there wasn’t any unnecessary aggression in his voice or behavior.   
Jason told me that his mom would not be returning home, she joined his father and they were working together on a project. I helped Jason make french fries and we sat in the living room while we ate.  
“So what kind of work does your father do,” I asked in between bites.  
“He is an archeologist, that’s what he is busy with now, my mother and him both.” He answered but I could hear it was a recited statement. An automatic reaction when asked the specific question. It was the same thing that I did when people called me Simon. He was lying to me. I had no choice but to accept that asking anything else would probably have the same response: A well-rehearsed tale   
What am I thinking? Why should I question what he said? I’m not in my right mind, maybe this is the fear of betrayal setting in my mind. Maybe I don’t want to have a new friend. Maybe…  
“Excuse me” I said and rushed myself to the bathroom and locked the door behind me. I splashed some cold water on my face and stared at myself in the mirror. I stared at my reflection, not liking the person I was seeing.   
Finally someone who seemed like they might make a good friend and here I was trying against all odds to find a reason not to be friends. The reflection’s eyes turned red.   
“He wants to be your friend,” I said at the reflection feeling the rage in my body build up. “Will and the others, they’ll be there when you go back, but you’re alone now.”  
“You’re not replacing them,” I said to reassure myself but it still felt as though I might be betraying some bond of friendship that was never meant to be tampered with.

“What if they’ve substituted you?”   
I looked up, the thought wasn’t foreign and I’ve always been scared that my old friends might replace me, but saying it out loud made me so mad. Like I had a rage inside me that would always arise with that suspicion, that possibility that they would replace and forget me.  
“No!” I said hard and loud, as I did my reflection’s eyes turned a bright red and the mirror shook violently, I grabbed it by its sides in case it might fall. I looked directly at my reflection and saw the red fade back to the dark brown that looked black in the lack of light, with the scattered red barely visible. The mirror in turn stopped shaking.  
I unlocked the bathroom door and shunned the incident from my mind, however, it did give me clarity with the whole Jason vs. old friend’s situation and I decided. I am allowed a new friend, not as a substitute but as an old book left open one side with a new book ready to be explored. I would always have access to the old book but new things were allowed, after all, the old book wasn’t going anywhere.

Eventually we came to the point where we were exhausted and decided to call it a night, or rather morning. Before I dozed off into unconsciousness I thought how Jason’s father didn’t get mad like Frank would have when I asked him why he was going again. I forgot that not all fathers were like Frank, not every father used their child as a punching bag. Jason’s dad was a good man; Jason should count his lucky stars that he got a better deal than I did

I woke up early due to the nightmare I had.  
I drove home after all I wasn’t planning on going to school especially since I had a doctor’s letter that gave me the right to ditch for the rest of the week so I was going to bunk at home and spend the day with Gran. I looked in the mirror to see if there were any cars behind me and immediately stopped the vehicle. My eyes were bright red again and I remembered last night in the bathroom. I phoned Will and told him about the mirror shaking.   
“Are you sure” he asked.  
“Definitely, it shook and there was no earthquake or anything.”  
“I don’t know Raven, I mean we use to joke about it but I thought that it was just a mutation or something.”  
“I know, but that doesn’t change the fact that it still happened.”  
“I don’t know what to say Raven.”  
“Maybe my screws are just coming loose?”  
“This sucks, it’s hard when you’re not living two streets away, I feel useless.”  
“Not that we’d be able to figure it out anyway.”  
“True, putting theories together would have been easier than over the phone though.”  
“I know.”  
“By the way, how are you doing, your Gran phoned my mom and she told me about the whole Frank incident.”  
“Good,” I said and then it occurred to me, my arm hasn’t been feeling as sore as it had yesterday, I wasn’t even feeling anything out of the ordinary for that matter.  
“Hold on,” I said and took the bandage off to see the current condition of my stitched arm.   
“Holy crap!” I said as I looked at my arm and the suppose-to-be-on-my-arm stitches fell on the floor.  
“What’s the matter, Raven you ok?” he asked.  
“Dude, my arm, I mean I saw what it looked like the day after Frank got to me but now.”  
“What?” he asked concerned.  
“Will, it’s completely healed, there isn’t even a scar!” I looked all over my body and all my wounds were gone and I immediately told him.  
“Seriously?” he asked.  
“What the hell?” we both said then I heard his mother on the other side of the conversation telling him to finish up because she wanted to take them to school before she had to go to work.  
“Let me know if something comes up,” he said.  
“Sure thing, speak later.”   
I started driving again, not sure what was going on, when did my arm heal itself like that? Maybe that’s what happened when my eyes freaked out. I saw the driveway and cleared my thoughts; I had to be normal around Gran. I don’t want to weird her out. I forgot to tell Will about Kristen. I’ll phone him later.

Gran didn’t open the door when I rang the bell, I used my spare key to get in the house and I found Gran in her room, she was not getting ready to go somewhere or making her bed. She hadn’t stood up yet, in fact if she hadn’t been the first to speak, I would have anticipated the worst.   
Somehow Gran’s condition deteriorated over the course of night. Yesterday she brought me home and this morning she couldn’t even get out of bed. I decided that I would make breakfast seeing that I hadn’t had any and Gran was in no condition to make breakfast herself.

My phone rang; it was Jason announcing he was going to be here in ten minutes  
I sighed; suddenly making breakfast seemed like a chore. Given that I added Jason to my list of people to feed – just to be polite – my work increased. 

In between the oil attacking me and the bacon screaming at me I heard Gran cough up a storm and immediately halted everything and headed to her.  
“You ok Gran?” I asked as I got into her room but her physical appearance answered my question.  
“I should phone a Dr.” I said.   
“A doctor can’t help me child, my hourglass is drawing to its final grains of sand.”  
Her words made my stomach turn uncomfortably. I didn’t know what to say.  
I used breakfast as an excuse to leave, in the kitchen I felt sick, but not enough to be sick.

There was a sudden tremor, followed by a random gust of wind that felt like it was coming from inside the house, not out.  
I looked outside the kitchen window and saw that there was no trace of even a breeze. 

I turned to go to Gran but I slipped on something.

So close so close.

I was conscious again and I jumped up like it was an automatic reaction.   
I walked to Gran’s room. I heard voices, was she talking to someone?  
Impossible, no-one’s been here to see her. But I was definitely hearing voices.  
I walked into the first half of her room and then I reached the doors that lead to her bed, to her and the voices.  
“Gran?” I said as I walked in.  
There was nobody except her, but somehow she looked worse compared to how she looked earlier  
I went back to the kitchen to clean up, the tremor must have been my imagination, - and hearing voices made me question my sanity.  
In the end my breakfast didn’t appear as lethal as I had imagined, after all bacon and egg happens to be way down on my list of food specialties.

I took my personally approved food to Gran, again voices like someone was talking to Gran.  
Then another gust of wind and now I had the strangest of suspicion that it came from Gran’s room.  
She was busy wiping tears from her face. When she saw me she hugged me with such ferocity that I could see the headlines in the newspaper, Grandmother hugs Grandchild to death.  
“My Simon,” was all she said then told me to leave, I had the vague idea that my hard worked egg and bacon would remain on her bed side table as it is, for the rest of the day.

Jason showed up, he had already had breakfast. I noticed he had bruises on his face, yet he was smiling, I wondered how he got those bruises; they weren’t there this morning.  
When I asked him about it, he told me had an incident with a guy who tried to rob him. He didn’t offer me details. I had a strange feeling that he wasn’t being truthful.   
But I ignored that little suspicion, after all who was I to judge, I had already been through this mental discussion and I’m sure he wasn't hearing voices.  
Or seeing people throw chairs  
Damn it, why did I have to think that up?   
Maybe there’s an institute for loons, wondered how Gran would take it, how would I tell her  
“Hey Gran, yeah, I’m hearing voices and I see things that are humanly impossible”_  
I started thinking about that convention, in my mind I saw it making sense. I shook my head, magical convention, that’s all it was. The thing is I never saw the midnight as a hotel that would host such an event.   
I pressed my hands against my head, what’s going on with me, is this what I get for the sleeping disorder?  
I never suffered the normal symptoms, exhaustion, headaches, bad mood though I have a tendency to be sarcastic but that’s a conscious thing, it’s not like sarcasm is the result of sleep deprivation. Maybe my internal body was beginning to suffer, the mind needs its sleep, that bit is emphasized in school assembly though I've been ditching those since my second month in this school. Answers, during an exam they seem to be easier, I can deal with school tests and exams because I'm prepared for them, but life is too complicated, there’s no manual for it. It’s like God said all the answers to life’s questions will be found in all the corners of the world and we searched for those answers until a jackass found out the world is round and we realized how screwed we are.   
Jason left after a few minutes, his dad phoned him and told him to go home or so he says. There I go again with my craziness.   
I went to my room and felt that there was stuff I didn’t have, things I had left at the previous house, not that I had a strong urge to go back there and get it but I knew I had to return.  
I went to Gran and told her that I was going to Jason’. (Glad that he had not come inside to greet her earlier.)  
“Sit down,” I wanted to say I was in a hurry but she gave me that sit or else I will turn you into stone Granny look she had and I sat at the foot of her bed. For several minutes we didn’t speak a word, she just stared at me. It unnerved me.   
“You’ll be good,” she said eventually.  
“Always Gran,” I said, she didn’t have any reason to doubt my behavior.   
“And you’ll take good care?” she kind of asked me.  
“For sure,” what’s going on with her?  
“And you promise to be good?”  
“I’ll be great Gran.”  
“The best, that’s what you’ll be,” she said and I lost her on that one, no sense coming from her.  
“Everyone will remember you,” she said and that scared me, I’m not the one in bed and being ill. I’m not dying.  
She gave me a hug as I said goodbye, it was strange, like one of those hugs you give someone when you know you won’t see them in a few years or longer, it made me uncomfortable.  
“My Simon,” She said and then she gave me a kiss on my forehead.   
“Bye Gran,” I said.  
“Goodbye my dear, dear Grandchild.”  
“See you later,” I said.  
“Yes, you will,” her eyes were so sad or grief stricken like she had lost someone dear to her or something. I stood there for a few moments, not sure whether or not I should go or just not go and stay here. She closed her eyes and wasn’t aware of me still here. She was so still, I suddenly had a bad thought and walked closer to her  
“I’m not dead yet.” She said with her eyes still closed.   
“Right. Ok. Bye, later.” I said and walked away feeling my cheeks burning super red.   
Old people are weird.  
I left and had a bad feeling, I felt really sad. I turned to the front door, I shouldn’t go, it would be a mistake, but I don’t see why, I won’t be gone that long so if anybody tries to rob this house, well, bob has shown the ability to send people to the hospital. I turned back to start going when I stopped again.   
Speak of the devil and there’s bob.   
He looked at me, like he was sad, something about his expression, it looked like what Gran’s hug felt like. Something is not right.   
“I’ll be back, keep an eye on her ok?” I said and to my surprise bob nodded.   
I walked thinking what the hell.  
The urge to get back to that house was getting stronger luckily I had grown accustomed to the path and therefore I was prepared for the path ahead.   
“I’m going to Jason’s.”  
That was probably a pretty lame excuse to use, seeing that it was a school day…  
Which reminded me: Why wasn't Jason at school?   
Why did Gran believe that lamest of lame excuses? I spent the night and all of yesterday at Jason's house right? Surely she’d think me tired of his company by now. 

I got the school area, tied my shoelaces when a familiar voice of Jason spoke next to me.  
“Are you going somewhere? Because I bet you fifty bucks that I can get you there faster than those two“ he indicated to my feet, “can.”  
“Get in damn it,” he said before I could start to protest.  
“Fine,” I got in the vehicle wondering by myself why I didn’t drive in the first place.  
He was surprised when I told him where it was we were heading, but I had to go there.  
“So how come you skipped school today?”  
“No reason, just didn’t feel like going that’s all,” I knew he was lying; some voice in my head told me that this was that pretense again. I silenced that voice instantly.  
I carefully monitored the house as it got in plain view, no truck. Frank was probably at work.  
I got out and tried my best to move as fast as my body would permit me. O yeah, I’m all healed, still bothered by that little detail.  
This was the first time I wasn't going to make food, prepare dessert or fear what might happen later on after the drinking, I twitched as I thought about what happened that night. I got to my room and saw what my door looked like, it had been smashed in, he must have thought I was still here when I had already left moments, perhaps even hours earlier. My room had blood splattered here and there, my blood, how strange. Everything felt like it had happened ages ago, more like it never happened at all, like a dream. I grabbed some stuff at random then I stood in my room, looking without knowing what it was that I thought I had forgotten. The truth is that there’s nothing I would still want here, I have no objects of sentimental value that needed to be salvaged. Yet still I felt like there was a very specific reason I had come back here and now I didn’t know what exactly that reason was, my student id card was at Gran’s so there was no way that it could be that and I…  
I gave up, went back downstairs and left the few mundane objects that I had gathered in my chaotic room, but it still felt like I was forgetting something important.  
I walked to the kitchen and saw the broken chair on the ground, things happened so fast that night, I’m not sure I can even remember wood being used to hit me. I stayed in the kitchen for a few seconds, looking at the stairway, my mind played that night over, I thought about how I ran up those stairs, struggled with a key, got stabbed. I should be more traumatized. I took a breath and then left the house and I headed back to Jason's Lamborghini; it felt like my mind was nagging at me not to forget something.  
Important.  
I started feeling like I didn’t really need something to be exact, but that I had some strange draw that pulled me back to this place, I couldn’t explain it, maybe just confirmation of what happened…that it did happen.  
I gave up on the house, knowing that what I was forgetting wasn't in there.  
Then I felt…heavy like the earth might be trying out its full gravitational pull on me.  
My legs gave in and I was on the ground before I knew it, kneeling and panting for breath, my unconsciousness threatening to relieve me of my focus and of reality. Then there was a sudden hollowness in my heart followed by a strange sense of relief, like I had been holding my breath (or rather my body had been holding its breath) for the past few years. I heard Jason's voice in between my struggle but couldn’t make out what he was saying. His shadow was strange, it looked like it was dancing, moving by its own will.   
The hollow feeling was replaced by a sensation, almost like the feeling before but more like the hollowness had been filled completely and sealed. The new sense of completion was without a doubt more powerful and defiant compared to the importance of its preceding occupant.  
I started to feel like my old self, even better. I hadn’t drawn a single breath since I touched the ground, but it was too soon. On my knees I could feel there was something, it started from my heart and it spread out through me. Jason lowered himself to be leveled with me and was about to put his hands on me but that would be a mistake, he would be interrupting.   
Don’t touch me I thought violently and he got up and pulled out his phone, but his movements were getting so slow. The sensation had spread, from my heart to my legs and already my head. After a few more seconds the new sensation had covered my entire body and it didn’t feel like it was going anywhere. Its presence slowly became less visible to my mind, but I knew it was there.   
I breathed and things were back to normal, some kind of normal at least.   
I felt that pull again, but I know realized that it wasn't coming from the house, it came from the forest. It bothered me; I had to figure out what it was so I headed for the forest.   
“Raven, where are you going?” Jason said and he shut his phone.  
I couldn’t answer him.  
I didn’t even know where I was going or why.  
But something was urging me not to leave the root of the pull untouched. I heard Jason close his car door and follow after me.  
It was growing stronger, we were getting closer to each other, whatever this pull was it wasn’t just on my side, it was two sides being drawn to one another.  
“Raven?” there was a slight trace of urgency in his voice.  
We were closer to the forest now, the feeling was getting stronger and I became excited, I had the strange sense that whatever I was heading towards was also coming to me.  
I didn’t even doubt that whatever this was, it was definitely really there.  
Jason was right behind me and then we stopped.  
We both heard the branch crack, but it wasn't what I was looking for, because the tail of my search was a bit further I knew because the feeling was stronger than it was before my episode, the pull was further than the broken branch.  
Someone wearing only black clothing that looked like ninja had emerged from the shadows of the forest, I was still focused on the magnetic pull that was radiating from behind him. We stopped but the feeling was growing stronger, as I had moved to the source, it was moving to me. Like two magnets fighting to reach other.  
The person pulled out two knifes, but I had to get past this him, then I realized that I should be concentrating on this person because clearly this guy was a more pressing matter than the pull, at least I should think so.  
I briefly heard Jason curse under his breath.  
The person started moving closer with a slight hesitation, but I was still mainly focused on the source that I could now – with carful listening – hear coming from behind him. It felt like there was a cold chill coming from behind me.  
The ninja dude stepped closer, gripping his hands tighter around the weapons he held, he was planning to strike. Jason started coming closer from behind me, I figured he was going to try grabbing me then have us both make a run for it, but somehow that didn’t feel necessary at the moment. The ninja guy started running toward me slashing those butcher knives that seemed to have gotten bigger, and I knew one slash would mean death.  
Help.  
I heard a rumbling in the bushes, the source was there, I couldn’t see it but I felt it running to where we were, then it jumped out from behind ninja guy.   
The leopard.  
I sighed with relief as it landed between the ninja and myself, then I felt another pull, it also came jumping, but from a different location, behind us.   
It was another leopard, though smaller and thinner, I took a better look I realized that this was a cheetah, not a leopard, now that I saw it the difference was obvious.  
The leopard growled at the ninja who had dropped a knife out of surprise and now tried to stab him but the cheetah pounced on him tearing the weapon out of his arms and bringing it to me. They both started circling around me, eyes contempt on the wounded stranger, not breaking their pattern. It felt strange, the words sunk in: they are protecting me.  
They growled ferociously.  
He got up, his eyes filled with terror and then he backed away slowly as the leopards continued growling at him, no doubt warning him to retreat.  
He must have noticed it too because he turned around and ran away.  
When he was out of sight both the animals suddenly relaxed. They brushed up against me, like a house pets seeking attention. Who was I to deprive them of this simple right? They had possibly just saved my life just now. I gladly petted them, stroking the soft fur that protected them in the winter against the cold. The irony is that it felt like an old habit, if I didn’t know any better I would have thought that we were together since birth. I could feel their trust in me, and I had no reason to doubt that they would not harm me. If it was possible, I thought I heard them purring.

“Raven, what the heck is going on?”  
I forgot about Jason.  
He stood several feet away, but for some reason the leopards started circling me again and growled at Jason.  
“No,” I said surprised at the stern voice I used.  
But it worked, strange how I somehow knew that it would. They casually ran to him, smelling him to catch his scent and then wanted attention from him too.   
“Are they yours? Why didn’t you mention this before?”   
I could answer his first question, yes they were mine. Something inside me told me that without any doubt they were mine. Even though I couldn’t really see the possibility or how I came to be so sure that it was a certain fact.  
“I think so,” the female growled to correct me. “Yeah, I mean yes, they are mine, but up until now I guess I didn’t even know myself.”  
Jason looked at me suspiciously, “What do you mean up until now?”  
“I’ve only met him once” I pointed at the male who I realized was the leopard that hadn’t eaten me that day when I fell on him, the day Frank attacked me.  
I thought about it for a minute; when I woke that next morning I had been holding on to something warm when I was still disorientated, when I had that thought about Kristen.  
“Twice I think. But other than that this is the first time I actually interacted with them.”  
“Then why did they protect you just now?” It almost sounded like he was accusing me of something.  
“I'm not sure, but I knew they would, I didn’t really have to come back, but some kind of force was telling me to come back…So I did without knowing what it was I was coming back to.”  
Jason eyed me suspiciously. “You sincerely mean to tell me that these,” he eyed both the big cats, “are yours and you just found out”  
“Pretty much” I shrugged, wanting the female to come to me and she did.  
He stared at me for several minutes then finally appeared to accept my statement.  
My phone rang in my pocket. I ignored the look on Jason’s face and answered


	10. coccoon

Everything was shaking around me, but I heard no trees falling, felt no earth shaking, saw no-one fight to maintain balance, it was just me alone. My phone no longer in my hand had reached the ground. It didn’t sink in. I heard singing in the distance, like the kind you would find at an opera house. It sounded like…grace.  
“Simon Elle Raven?” It was a man.  
“Yes?”  
There was something the man had said after that, but it wouldn’t sink in, I had to fight my sudden lack of brain cooperation.  
“I regret…”  
Definitely not good, he was bearing something bad that he regretted to tell me about, but what were the words he used after that? I pushed my mind to remember.  
“To inform you…”  
I had difficulty getting the rest, what could have been so horrible that my mind was battling me on this topic? Inform me of what?  
“That your Grandmother had passed away several minutes ago, her last words…”  
Gran’s gone.  
I wasn't ready yet, I mean I’ve been trying to prepare myself but that was for weeks to come, years even, not this soon, not today. Not now.  
I had not even been emotionally prepared for this, we only spoke somewhat less than an hour ago and she seemed absolutely fine, now she was dead? How does that happen!?

Jason had taken my phone and gathered what had happened, he took me to the car, with the leopards close by, he spun off and they followed, even if they didn’t see him, they would be led by the pull that we had toward each other. I know it’s not normal, but I knew there was a pull we had to each other.  
The rest of that day was a somewhat of a blur. All I know is that I spent the night at Jason's house. 

The next day happened; I got to school early with Jason. What happened next…?  
Billy saw us.  
“Oh look, it’s Raven. Is the little baby ok? I heard that your stupid grandmother kicked the bucket, to get away from you no doubt. Smart bitch if you ask me.”  
I slipped.   
“What is your problem?!” I asked as I moved to him. Billy was happy at the challenge, he pulled up his sleeves and made a mocking sound. He swung a fist at me. Dodge. I hit him with a flat hand against the back of his head, an insult to his fighting skill. He whirled around and tried another punch but I grabbed his fist and used the momentum against his stomach.   
“You shit!” he yelled and tried to kick me. I grabbed his foot and pulled it, making him lose his balance. He fell on the ground and got up again.   
“I’ve never done anything to you,” I said and he charged at me. I could see that he was going to wrap his arms around me and tackle me down. I changed my footing and brought my knee up and as he grabbed me, my knee hit his stomach. He fell back on the ground, tried to kick me again and missed. Once again he got up. He kicked again, I let him hit. The impact was nothing, the grin on his face ticked me off. He swung again and I grabbed his arm, twisted my body and forced him back on the ground, his arm in a deadlock behind his back. I pulled his arm up, making him cringe.   
“I could break your arm, without flinching. Not a care in the world.”  
“You’ll get expelled.” He said in a shaky voice.   
“Probably, but if I break your arm in just the right way, it will never be the same again. You would have to kiss your football career goodbye for the rest of your life. I will take away one of the things you love the most in your pitiful excuse of a life. All I have to do is twist it in a certain angle, almost like this,” I twisted it. I had a decent idea of how the body worked. All that training with Gran had some good worth knowing information.   
“Please don’t,” he whimpered.   
“Most people would stop, feel sorry for you. Think you’re not worth it. This moment right here, this will define the rest of your life. If you ever bother me, my friends or anyone I know, I warn you that I will see this through. Never forget that you are nothing but an insect to me. I will crush you without a second hesitation. Do you understand me?  
He nodded, I heard him sobbing. Pathetic.   
“Get out of my face, go clean yourself up. I don’t care, just get the hell out of here. Your face pisses me of.”  
Jason stared at me with his mouth open. “That was scary, I never knew you had that kind of scariness in you.” His words hit a nerve, I clenched my jaw and apologized to Will.   
“I need a minute, I’ll catch up with you later. Excuse me.” I put my hand on his shoulder, it felt like he had been standing inside a freezer or something, I almost didn’t feel any body heat.   
I went to the cafeteria, I had to get myself together.   
I stood next to a table, not sure if I wanted to sit down or stay as I was.   
It sunk in my head, my Grandmother passed away. I would never see her again; I would never go grocery shopping with her. Never laugh about a silly comment. Never help her read small letters  
Raven  
The echo of my name sent a rush through my body, the earth felt heavy again. I fell on the floor, my head throbbing, my body aching. If there was ever a good time to believe in spontaneous combustion, it was now.  
It was worse than before, way worse.  
My head felt like someone was beating it with an axe, I was just waiting for it to split open. My vision also started to blur. It was as though time slowed down, I could hear my heartbeat above all else.   
It was steady?  
I felt cold, and my body felt only pain, needles were being stuck in and out of my flesh over and over again. The only exception was my head; the axe constantly striking my head repeatedly was getting worse and worse. 

I lay on the ground for what felt like an eternity, it may have been, but eventually it stopped. The pain slowly seized. When every pain I had was gone I still didn’t get up, I couldn’t be sure that I was clear yet, I had the strange sensation that worse was yet to come.  
It did come, everything stopped, my heart stopped beating, my lungs wouldn’t take in air, I couldn’t inhale because my body wouldn’t obey the need to inhale, my eyes wouldn’t move, my fingers couldn’t be felt, I was there on the ground. Nothing I tried would work, none of my systems would react, I wasn't breathing, my heart wasn't pumping, I was practically dead.  
In my state of uselessness I felt something inside my body, it was like something was flowing from my feet to my legs and continued to move upward until it reached my head and thus completed its path. This again!  
My eyes were seeing nothing as my breath left and I knew I couldn’t take another. That feeling, I had it yesterday, when I fell on the ground, like there was a part of me waking up, but now there was another part that was just like that part of yesterday and with it came something, a good feeling, like it was a part of me that was made of all that was right. There was something else, it wasn’t good, in fact it felt like the opposite of the other feeling. Like they were two separate parts of me. This feeling didn’t go through my entire body, it just found a place where it would remain quietly silent until the right time, like a pouncing tiger waiting for the right moment.   
I could move again and took a big breath of air. Maybe it was over or maybe it was taking a five minute break, whatever the reason I didn’t bother to care, the pain had stopped. I was thankful for that. I sat on one of the chairs, it was different, everything felt different, it was beyond explaining, I felt like those times I would forget something and know that I would need it later on, but not truly the exact same feeling, but the principle was more or less the same, something was nagging in my head. Something I couldn’t place. I didn’t know what it was but it was frustrating, this time it wasn't like before with those two leopards. I can’t explain it. I even felt pressure, from the unknown problem that I couldn’t place. Some part of me had suddenly decided to scream at me, telling me to remember it, not leave it alone any further, but I couldn’t find the body part, I moved everything I could, my legs, my torso, my shoulders, my arms, my head but it still cried as I couldn’t find it, even though it felt so familiar.   
I gave up and ignored the speaker yelling at full volume, begging for attention in my head.  
The bell rang and the cafeteria started filling with students.   
Whoa! Was I out this long?  
They commented on the change of scenery. All the tables and chairs were packed tight against each other; I noticed that there was a huge empty space in the area I just stood up from. I realized that all the tables were packed away from where I lay and I distinctively remember that nothing was out of the ordinary when I came in earlier.  
Did I make the tables move when I was having my fit on the ground? How is that even possible?  
The tables were placed back in order and everyone continued normally.

Jason came walking to the table, somehow I realized that he stuck with me even though he didn’t really know me, I was curious about that, I would bring it up when he sits down.  
“Hey Raven,” he said cautiously. “You feeling better?”  
“Better than earlier. I just needed to think.”  
“Alright, if you need to talk, we’re friends, right?”   
“I looked at him, his cool guy façade gone. He seemed to care for a response.   
“Dude, you stuck with me more than any of these other morons, we’re definitely friends. Not sure how it happened but here we are.” He thought for a minute.  
“I guess that somehow I thought that maybe we could be friends since we didn’t really have any friends,” he finished.  
I wanted to say that I had friends but I bit my tongue.  
“Also, you’re honest. Most people put on pretenses and you don’t and you’re not an asshole like most people. You don’t notice, but people have a high opinion of you.”  
“Good to know.” I nodded and he shook his head.   
“You don’t let things get to you, well except for today. Billy deserved it to be fair.”  
“Did you see the look on his face?”  
“Did you see the look on my face?”  
I laughed.  
“Friends we are then” I said and raised my fist, he acknowledged by punching his fist against mine.   
The cafeteria had grew more occupied.   
Then they came in, Kristen and Robert, the latest new students in the school. So many new students it’s funny categorizing them all. New old (Ashe), new (me), new new(Jason), new new new(rob and Kristen).   
They took their normal seat across the table we sat at and had been the second of the two unoccupied tables.   
I actually wished that they would have chosen a different seating area, now I had to face the two of them and then I remembered Kristen, darn me.  
“Stay here,” I instructed Jason, he frowned, I needed space from this, I went to the food court, I didn’t need anything, but any excuse was better than constantly being reminded of my insanity moment.   
“Not good enough to sit with us anymore?”  
Dmitri’s voice broke my concentration, he and the others were eyeing me with anger that could scare even the fiercest of teachers, “hey guys!” I redirected my path to them, good I thought to myself, a distraction.  
“Oh don’t mind us! We aren’t rich, we can’t offer you fancy lifts, so forget us why don’t you?”  
How did I decide this was a good distraction?  
“What’s your damage?”  
He got up and stood in front of me, I could only imagine: he was freakishly tall so I must have appeared to be a midget facing goliath.  
“Since you and Jason became friends, you forgot that we were also still alive, you dropped us as though we were disposable, what, just because of some stupid table? Is that like the new cool wannabe table?”  
“You have no reason not to sit at that table. In fact it’s better than the one you’re at now, away from the throw away bin, which –by the way- includes half of your table. Didn’t we already have this conversation?”  
I thought about it for a second, “and weren’t you the one who ordered me to chase him away, what did you expect, that I’d leave him hanging on his own?”  
“Uhm, yeah, I don’t see why you didn’t_”  
“I’m not you! That’s why,” I yelled at him “I don’t pretend to be a friend to someone as long as it suits me and then stab you in the back for no real reason.” I said, fighting the urge to jump him, ignoring the sudden silence in the cafeteria.  
Dmitri looked around him, the others were behind him and I knew his stubbornness would be superseding, it was like a competition for him, in his twisted mind we were like two alphas fighting for the position of leader of the pack. I could care less about being the leader of the loser table. I especially don’t want to be a leader of any kind.  
“Well maybe if you acted like a friend,” he started and that’s when I had enough.  
“That’s rich, my dad stabbed me, I’ve been to the hospital and I don’t recall any of you being at my bedside. Jason was there and I haven’t even known him as long as I do you, he was there and what does that say about my so called friends!”  
Dmitri was obviously uncomfortable with the topic; he doesn’t like losing in any situation he initiates.  
“I don’t need you tell me where we stand as friends do I?” I said coldly.  
“No, you’re no longer one of us.”  
“Really, well then I guess nothing has changed, the way you guys treated me, I’m glad I never made the cut.”  
I walked away, walked out of the cafeteria ignoring the applause and sounds of students cheering, and walked into car parking area.  
I called them, and they appeared a few second later.  
My new companions, they somehow must have known that I wasn't really happy because they were comforting me. “I guess I have to name you don’t I?”  
They purred in agreement, I thought for a second: the cheetah was easy, I placed my hand to her ear and scratched it, “I’ll call you Eclipse.” I turned to the male, his name was a bit harder, I couldn’t name him ‘Bob’ or ‘Joe’, nor could I name him something that would seem too out of it, a leopard - I thought - is graceful and cautious. I decided, “Sin” apparently he agreed with the name too because he pushed his head against my leg.  
I frowned. Why did I feel a strange familiarity regarding the names Sin and Eclipse?  
They stayed with me; we understood each other without the real verbal communication needed. They knew I was upset, and they came when I called them in my head. Somehow that bond was created effortlessly.   
I remembered the morning, I had actually beaten someone up, and not just anyone I beat the hell out of Billy. I would have to apologize later on – or I could conveniently forget- and hopefully he might not make a big deal out of the incident.  
The bell rang and I headed to my next class, English.   
I didn’t pay attention as I sat down.  
“You going to speak to me now?” It was Kristen.  
“About what?”  
She stared at me in disbelief, I wondered if Sin and Eclipse would attack her if she kept pressing me to speak of that day.  
I wondered what Ashe would do if she met them, if she would be scared of two leopards. I wondered if Kristen or Robert would be scared if they saw them. Then I thought about what Kristen would do to them, seeing that she was definitely capable of more than a normal human was.  
“Thank you very much, now I can’t stop thinking about that” I tried as hard as I could to put as much anger in my voice then changed seats.  
She changed seats too.  
I wished she would just go away.  
She turned to me frowning, there was a strange confusion in her eyes and then I felt like she wanted something from me.  
I don’t understand how simply staring at a person can make things so uncomfortable and intense, but Kristen was a master of it and after forty five minutes of that shit I was ready to punch someone in the face, a girl with brown hair named Kristen. I wished that she would tell me what I did wrong.  
“May I be excused I feel like I’m going to be sick.”  
Mr. Albion stared at me with the utmost concern, I was the single student who never needed to be excused or pardoned. This was rather strange behavior on my part.  
“Certainly, should we call a nurse or someone?”   
I smiled at him, “no-no, it’s ok; I just need some air, that’s all,” just get me the hell away from this girl.  
I walked outside for a bit, the screaming part of me didn’t reside, I was getting frustrated. 

I saw Ashe in one of her classes; she was staring out of the window, the sunlight turning her hair a lighter shade of blond, making her seem slightly angelic.

I went home after signing out, or at least to Gran’s home, while I still could at least. Now that she’s passed away I don’t know what the hell is going to happen to it. I should probably see how much of her stuff I can sell on e-bay before it gets taken away.  
I was overwhelmed with questions.  
Who was Kristen Swift?  
What was Jason hiding from me? Was he hiding something from me? (Again the mental instability of trust issues started to show)  
The leopards were a question on their own.   
Why did Gran have to die?  
What was Ashe doing?  
Then I lingered on my next question, was there something wrong with me, Gran had cancer and I was suffering odd headaches and strange episodes that wasn't epilepsy, diabetes or anything I could think of. Did I have cancer?

I felt the warm breaths of an animal, Eclipse I was sure, she was comforting me. Questioning me, wanting to know what was wrong.  
I just smiled.  
How did I know what was going through Eclipse’s mind?


	11. gran's gift

So I only had to sign a few papers for Gran’s funeral arrangements to go through. She had sorted all of this stuff out while she was still alive, typical, even in death she was well organized.

Gran’s funeral was both depressing and shocking.  
Depressing because, obviously it was a funeral, and normal people are depressed at a funeral, except me. I didn’t even cry, it occurred to me that I never really cried since I moved, and even before that I couldn’t remember the last time I had cried. What bothered me more was that I didn’t feel like crying, I mean Gran is dead, I should feel some sadness, its normal, but I felt normal. That’s it; I’m the worst Grandchild ever! Sure there was some hurt, pain but I would have expected it to be worse. 

Shocking: for the simple reason that there were dozens of people whom had shown up.  
Of course I had asked Dmitri and the others to come, but only Jason had shown up, after the whole Dmitri incident, I’m not surprised. Not that I’m bothered by it, less of a care I couldn’t give.  
There were so many people, few that I knew many that I have never seen in my life, a woman with wild short hair was there, there was something familiar about her but I couldn’t place her. I was more concerned about the fact that it almost looked like the church wouldn’t be able to hold everyone here.  
After the ceremony Jason had to leave and I had to escape all the glares and whispers that came my way.  
I’ve never felt so alone in my life, inside were all these people. The ones I knew spoke to me but I didn’t know them. I only ever had Gran. No brothers, sisters, aunts or uncles. Just Gran and Frank. I feel like I got cheated. The wrong one got taken from me. All these people, I’m still shocked.   
Amazement aside I headed for the bathroom, the suit was attempting to strangle me and I needed air. So I decided that the garden might be a better option.   
“Mr. Raven I presume.” Someone said suddenly next to me.   
I turned around and faced an elderly man, who seemed only too comfortable in his suit.  
“Uh, is he in any trouble?”  
“No.”  
“Then that’s me.”  
I remembered his face; this was my dear Gran’s lawyer, the voice that spoke to me and told me that Gran was gone the day I found Sin and Eclipse, or rather they found me.   
“If we can speak in private…”  
I took him further into the garden, we would both get what we wanted, air and privacy.  
“May I ask why you needed to see me sir?”  
He looked at me curiously then nodded.  
“Of course, well, normally I do this kind of business in a closed room with a different kind of privacy, but I was told that it wouldn’t be necessary, in fact it was demanded that it be done in a landscaped area.”  
“That what be done?” I asked.  
“I am your Grandmother’s lawyer and I act as her legal representative.”  
“Gran’s gone. So what do you still have…you’re here because of…”  
“Your Grandmothers will.”   
Oh boy, Gran had a will.  
“Your Grandmother spoke to me on the day she passed away, to ensure that her will was as she had made it since our previous discussion regarding her passing.”  
“Previous discussion, how long ago was that” I asked, wondering if she decided to make a will weeks months ago. Maybe she made it after she found out she had cancer two years ago. “Thirteen years ago”  
I stared at him, “she only ever spoke to you about it again on that day?”  
He nodded.  
“What, did she know that she was going to die or something?” I said, not knowing if he heard me.   
“Perhaps it was just luck.”  
“But you don’t believe that do you?”  
“I’ve known your Grandmother most of my life,” he took a deep breath. “When she phoned, I knew that there was something wrong, I also knew that she knew her time was coming to pass. I know Anna, she was always one step ahead of everything.”  
That sure sounded like Gran but why is he discussing her will with me. Gran gave me shelter when I wanted to escape from Frank, what more could I ask for?  
He looked at me for several seconds, frowning.   
“You don’t seem upset,” he said, it sounded like he was confirming his statement.  
“Pardon?”   
“She told me that you wouldn’t be sad at her funeral.”  
“She did?” I said surprised, maybe she thought I didn’t love her, what would this man think. If he assumed that I might have had a hand in her death.  
“She said that you would mourn her death, but not carry it on your shoulders because you are strong. She said that you would have replaced that loss with completion. That’s how she wanted it to be when she was gone and the tie snapped.” he said and I stared at him in absolute astonishment, how well did Gran really know me, it’s true. I had Sin and Eclipse and they filled the gap left by her death, or rather, they kept it from existing in the first place. How did Gran know?  
“Let’s continue shall we?” He took out a piece of paper and started reading.  
“To my most loved person in the world, Raven.”  
“It actually says Raven?” I interrupted.  
“Yes, why?” he asked.  
“She never called me Raven,” not once.  
He cleared his throat and continued “I leave with all my possessions in the hope that you’ll always remember me when you use what you need.”  
“Wait, when you say all her possessions.”  
“Her house, vehicles, property in her name, money in her bank account that she had transferred to an account for you exclusively, the card already in your new home, already in your name.”  
“All her property? Including the beach house and the boat?”   
“Yes, everything in her name is legally bound now in your name.”  
That was a weird thing to say.  
“You just need to sign this paper to make it official.”  
“I can’t believe that she did this for me,” I said.  
“Blood is binding, more than anything else,” he said half to himself. I handt noticed the ringing in my ear until now. The way he said it.   
I looked at the paper and ran through it. Gran always use to make me read through contracts and stuff, to make sure what I was looking out in case someone was trying to scam me into something. Everything looked right, so I signed it. And for a second I thought I felt something.  
“Ouch” I said and brought up my hand, the pen had somehow pricked me and a drop of blood fell on the paper “sorry about that” I said and sucked my finger.  
“Like I said, you will learn.” He took the paper placed it in a file. He took out some documents and then looked them over.  
“There is one other matter,” he said and a gust of cold wind blew against my face, I wrapped the birthday scarf around my neck twice, it was still long enough to get to my knees. I frowned at that, it was knee length when I didn’t wrap it around my neck; it’s not supposed to stay knee length.   
“Your Grandmother requested that I see into a little matter.”  
“Ok?”  
“It was a request that came due to a recent attack on you.”  
“Say it out loud but don’t beat around the bush with me please.”  
“Well, I know the circumstances; I also know that you did not want any lawsuits and such. So your Grandmother made other arrangements?” He looked at the document and licked his lips.  
“Other arrangements?”  
“This is a way she thought to protect you. The final decision is completely up to you.” he said and I looked at the paper in his hands.  
“Have you heard of the emancipation act?”  
“I understand the phrase. Not very familiar with the act though.”  
“Well, this was your Grandmothers other demand from me. To see this through and after what I've learned, I will without a doubt, see it through until it’s done.”  
“That’s great and all but I’m still in the dark here.”  
“Then let me explain.”


	12. Knowledge

So I only had to sign a few papers for Gran’s funeral arrangements to go through. She had sorted all of this stuff out while she was still alive, typical, even in death she was well organized.

Gran’s funeral was both depressing and shocking.  
Depressing because, obviously it was a funeral, and normal people are depressed at a funeral, except me. I didn’t even cry, it occurred to me that I never really cried since I moved, and even before that I couldn’t remember the last time I had cried. What bothered me more was that I didn’t feel like crying, I mean Gran is dead, I should feel some sadness, its normal, but I felt normal. That’s it; I’m the worst Grandchild ever! Sure there was some hurt, pain but I would have expected it to be worse. 

Shocking: for the simple reason that there were dozens of people whom had shown up.  
Of course I had asked Dmitri and the others to come, but only Jason had shown up, after the whole Dmitri incident, I’m not surprised. Not that I’m bothered by it, less of a care I couldn’t give.  
There were so many people, few that I knew many that I have never seen in my life, a woman with wild short hair was there, there was something familiar about her but I couldn’t place her. I was more concerned about the fact that it almost looked like the church wouldn’t be able to hold everyone here.  
After the ceremony Jason had to leave and I had to escape all the glares and whispers that came my way.  
I’ve never felt so alone in my life, inside were all these people. The ones I knew spoke to me but I didn’t know them. I only ever had Gran. No brothers, sisters, aunts or uncles. Just Gran and Frank. I feel like I got cheated. The wrong one got taken from me. All these people, I’m still shocked.   
Amazement aside I headed for the bathroom, the suit was attempting to strangle me and I needed air. So I decided that the garden might be a better option.   
“Mr. Raven I presume.” Someone said suddenly next to me.   
I turned around and faced an elderly man, who seemed only too comfortable in his suit.  
“Uh, is he in any trouble?”  
“No.”  
“Then that’s me.”  
I remembered his face; this was my dear Gran’s lawyer, the voice that spoke to me and told me that Gran was gone the day I found Sin and Eclipse, or rather they found me.   
“If we can speak in private…”  
I took him further into the garden, we would both get what we wanted, air and privacy.  
“May I ask why you needed to see me sir?”  
He looked at me curiously then nodded.  
“Of course, well, normally I do this kind of business in a closed room with a different kind of privacy, but I was told that it wouldn’t be necessary, in fact it was demanded that it be done in a landscaped area.”  
“That what be done?” I asked.  
“I am your Grandmother’s lawyer and I act as her legal representative.”  
“Gran’s gone. So what do you still have…you’re here because of…”  
“Your Grandmothers will.”   
Oh boy, Gran had a will.  
“Your Grandmother spoke to me on the day she passed away, to ensure that her will was as she had made it since our previous discussion regarding her passing.”  
“Previous discussion, how long ago was that” I asked, wondering if she decided to make a will weeks months ago. Maybe she made it after she found out she had cancer two years ago. “Thirteen years ago”  
I stared at him, “she only ever spoke to you about it again on that day?”  
He nodded.  
“What, did she know that she was going to die or something?” I said, not knowing if he heard me.   
“Perhaps it was just luck.”  
“But you don’t believe that do you?”  
“I’ve known your Grandmother most of my life,” he took a deep breath. “When she phoned, I knew that there was something wrong, I also knew that she knew her time was coming to pass. I know Anna, she was always one step ahead of everything.”  
That sure sounded like Gran but why is he discussing her will with me. Gran gave me shelter when I wanted to escape from Frank, what more could I ask for?  
He looked at me for several seconds, frowning.   
“You don’t seem upset,” he said, it sounded like he was confirming his statement.  
“Pardon?”   
“She told me that you wouldn’t be sad at her funeral.”  
“She did?” I said surprised, maybe she thought I didn’t love her, what would this man think. If he assumed that I might have had a hand in her death.  
“She said that you would mourn her death, but not carry it on your shoulders because you are strong. She said that you would have replaced that loss with completion. That’s how she wanted it to be when she was gone and the tie snapped.” he said and I stared at him in absolute astonishment, how well did Gran really know me, it’s true. I had Sin and Eclipse and they filled the gap left by her death, or rather, they kept it from existing in the first place. How did Gran know?  
“Let’s continue shall we?” He took out a piece of paper and started reading.  
“To my most loved person in the world, Raven.”  
“It actually says Raven?” I interrupted.  
“Yes, why?” he asked.  
“She never called me Raven,” not once.  
He cleared his throat and continued “I leave with all my possessions in the hope that you’ll always remember me when you use what you need.”  
“Wait, when you say all her possessions.”  
“Her house, vehicles, property in her name, money in her bank account that she had transferred to an account for you exclusively, the card already in your new home, already in your name.”  
“All her property? Including the beach house and the boat?”   
“Yes, everything in her name is legally bound now in your name.”  
That was a weird thing to say.  
“You just need to sign this paper to make it official.”  
“I can’t believe that she did this for me,” I said.  
“Blood is binding, more than anything else,” he said half to himself. I handt noticed the ringing in my ear until now. The way he said it.   
I looked at the paper and ran through it. Gran always use to make me read through contracts and stuff, to make sure what I was looking out in case someone was trying to scam me into something. Everything looked right, so I signed it. And for a second I thought I felt something.  
“Ouch” I said and brought up my hand, the pen had somehow pricked me and a drop of blood fell on the paper “sorry about that” I said and sucked my finger.  
“Like I said, you will learn.” He took the paper placed it in a file. He took out some documents and then looked them over.  
“There is one other matter,” he said and a gust of cold wind blew against my face, I wrapped the birthday scarf around my neck twice, it was still long enough to get to my knees. I frowned at that, it was knee length when I didn’t wrap it around my neck; it’s not supposed to stay knee length.   
“Your Grandmother requested that I see into a little matter.”  
“Ok?”  
“It was a request that came due to a recent attack on you.”  
“Say it out loud but don’t beat around the bush with me please.”  
“Well, I know the circumstances; I also know that you did not want any lawsuits and such. So your Grandmother made other arrangements?” He looked at the document and licked his lips.  
“Other arrangements?”  
“This is a way she thought to protect you. The final decision is completely up to you.” he said and I looked at the paper in his hands.  
“Have you heard of the emancipation act?”  
“I understand the phrase. Not very familiar with the act though.”  
“Well, this was your Grandmothers other demand from me. To see this through and after what I've learned, I will without a doubt, see it through until it’s done.”  
“That’s great and all but I’m still in the dark here.”  
“Then let me explain.”


	13. the sage and the contact

I sat in the passenger seat of Robert’s car. His driving reminded me why he crashed into me that first day. I pondered on what is happening, magic and sorcery, I should be thrilled, I know I should be, as a kid I always pretended to be a fire wielding wizard who could control anyone with my awesome powers. If this is real, I don’t know what to think.  
“Robert,” I said to get his attention.  
“What’s wrong, why are you so sad, most teenagers would be thrilled.”  
“If I really am a sorcerer.”  
“You are one, there’s no denying it,” he said sounding so sure of himself.  
“Is there a way not to be one if I am?”   
He looked at me frowning, the question clearly bothered him.  
“Why wouldn’t you want to be a sorcerer?” he asked.   
“I don’t know. I want to be happy about this, but I feel like this might be something that won’t end up being the best thing for me.” I said sincerely, gran’s letter floated around in my head.  
“Everything will be alright, trust me.”  
I nodded, trust is such a big word actually and it’s not given.   
“Trust is earned right?” he said more than asked, I looked at him surprised, he must be a good people person.   
We stopped several streets away from the midnight hotel and my stomach turned, I remembered that convention, suddenly I had a gut feeling that it wasn’t a convention at all.   
“Ok, Raven, here we go,” Robert said and we got out.   
Robert knocked on the door of a tacky looking building that appeared on the verge of falling apart at any moment.   
“Who is there!” a voice yelled from inside. I took a step back feeling tingly all over my body.   
“Mr. Amlo, it’s me, Robert Park, I have someone here that might intrigue you, no it’s not Derek but just come and have a look.”  
“Who is Derek?” I asked Robert as the locks of the door were opened.  
“He’s a powerful sorcerer whose seventeenth is this year. Everybody thinks he’s the shit but honestly, he’s a bit of a prick if you ask me.   
“A famous prick.”  
I looked as the door opened and an old man looked at Robert through small round spectacles. He had blue eyes and a gentle expression on his face; I could see that the lines on his face and remember what Gran said about aging lines, they mean wisdom. He stood freakishly tall but somehow managed to find robes that appeared to be too long. I noticed the patterns on his robes; they portrayed the moon, sun and stars, talk about a cliché.   
“Robert Park,” the old guy held out his arms and hugged Robert who returned the gesture.   
“Mage Amlo, it’s been so long since I've seen you.”  
“Ah yes, I remember you had just summoned your unit when I last saw you. Drove your parents crazy, how are they?” he asked but kept glancing at me every few moments.   
“Their fine” Robert said but he didn’t meet Amlo’s eyes.  
“I remember them coming to me, how have you been, your power, I suppose it has expanded quite a bit since the last time I saw you, you’re in control by now I’m sure?”  
“Most of it, I still have a few things that need to be monitored but other than that I have full control.”  
“Your parents had no idea what to do, I’m glad I could be of help.”

“They’ve been concerned since your absence, you need to keep in touch more.” Robert scolded. “What brings you here though?” Amlo responded examining Robert carefully.  
“I have a matter to resolve, if you would.”   
I noticed it, a tone change in Robert. Not curiosity, it sounded slightly more formal. In that split second Robert no longer spoke to a superior but to an equal.   
‘Who’s your friend Robert?” Amlo said and I understood slightly, Amlo had just reminded Robert that I am here. Whatever brought Amlo here, the purpose of his visit was not meant for my ears to hear.   
“Of course, Mage Amlo, this is Raven.”  
Mr Amlo shook my hand. As he did I thought I felt something tingly move from my hand to my head. I let go of Amlo’s hand and examined my own, the sensation was gone. I looked up at Amlo and he frowned curiously at me.  
“You felt it, didn't you?” he looked genuinely intrigued as I nodded, I felt that tingling whispering again.  
He gestured us to come inside his shabby home. The moment I walked over the threshold I realized that the shabby setup outside is just for appearance sake. Inside it looked like a massive fancy decorated room with a slight Elizabethan theme to it.   
“Find a seat while I start us some tea.”  
I sat down on a chair of fine woodwork, I looked around, and I didn’t see any technology in here. I frowned at a huge mirror that didn’t reflect anyone in the room.   
“Arabian,” Amlo said when he saw me waving at the mirror. “It will only reveal your enemies in the room. It helps me know who I can trust.”  
“Mage,” Robert said as Amlo handed us our tea, the china set looked expensive. “Raven is sixteen, his powers are only now activating.”  
That statement alone made Amlo stop his sip in mid process and look me directly in the eye, like he was only now seeing me for the first time.  
“You’ve never used magic before in your life?” he asked me and his gaze made me think back real hard.   
“No” I said and returned the gaze.  
“Not consciously,” Robert added.  
“Meaning?” Amlo didn't look away but I held the gaze.   
“At school, he used it when he got slightly irritated at us because we ran over his bicycle. Sometimes he uses it without realizing. I think it might be an avion ability, right now were more concerned about magical build up.”  
“You mean to tell me that he hasn’t a unit yet?” Amlo asked surprised.   
“No, he also had no idea that magic existed.”  
“How far along was he when you met him?”  
“I didn’t even know he had a magical circuit when I met him.”  
The silence following annoyed me slightly. Amlo kept staring at me, I still held his gaze, but my mind was busy with something else. While they were talking, my mind found something in my body that it hadn’t known before. I suddenly found that there was something running throughout my whole body, I could feel it there, I have no idea what it is but this discovery of something new in my body is truly fascinating.  
“In all his sixteen years, his magic is only risking a build-up now? What’s changed?”  
“Gran died,” I said absent mindedly though the pain of her loss hit me like a wave. The thing inside me felt like it was expanding.  
I smelled something sweet in the air. I looked at Amlo, he had a pipe in his hand, it started smoking by itself, the puffs of smoke didn’t stink, they smelled sweet, like vanilla.   
I looked at the rings they made, they descended around me and then dispersed at the same place.  
“May I have your hand boy,”Amlo asked and I placed my hand on his. I felt that sensation again, it started with my hand and moved up my arm. That thing I discovered with my brain didn’t like the violation, I felt like I could take this thing and move it around, not entirely move the whole thing but make some parts of it do things. I concentrated and tried to push the sensation that creeped up my arm back.   
Mr Amlo pulled his hand back and frowned at me.   
“Yes, I can see it. His powers have been under a binding. You already knew this.”  
“what does that mean?” I asked.  
“It means that you are a sorcerer and that your powers have been blocked from your control.” Robert said then looked at Amlo. “I knew yes, but there’s something I need your advice on. I need a second opinion on something.”  
“I don’t follow anyway.” I said.  
“It’s actually quite simple, your power has been bound, the one who bound it has died, therefore the magic that bound you no longer has a source that generates it and the binding is now unraveling. Your powers are awaking.”  
“Is there a way to redo the binding,” I asked.  
Amlo frowned and looked like Robert did when I asked if there is a way not to be a sorcerer.  
“My dear boy, why on earth wouldn’t you want the gift of magic?”  
“I don’t know,” I ran my hand through my hair, if this is really happening. I sighed mentally, this is happening.  
“To be gifted with magic is truly a wonderful blessing,” Amlo said.  
“Will it bring back my Grandmother?” I asked absentmindedly.  
“No, magic cannot bring back the dead.”  
“Can I go back in time and stop my father from beating me my whole life?”   
“No, time magic hasn’t been achieved since Mira, but,” he started but I interjected.  
“You have now just given me two reasons why magic isn’t all that great. This binding that’s coming lose, I won’t let magic change who I am and what I do. Even if I am a sorcerer, I don’t care, I won’t practice it.”  
“You have no choice,” Amlo said seriously. “If you do not use magic it will turn inward and not only will it harm you, you will be a risk to the magical community. Exposing magic to the humans is forbidden. Not to mention that it is an honor, you have been chosen by nature to release the pressure on the world.”  
“What pressure?” I asked.  
“Magic is a force that builds up like a balloon filled with water. As sorcerers we act like holes and create relief for that force, that pressure. We keep the world safe from what might happen if that pressure isn’t dismissed on this side. Whatever your true reasons are for not wanting to practice magic, it’s only temporary. Once you begin you’ll see that it’s nothing to be afraid or ashamed of.”  
I looked away, I didn’t want to meet his eyes. I really do want to be this special person, this is what I've always felt I was missing in my life, that dual purpose, be a sorcerer, that’s the other part of me that’s been forced back and yet still tried to fight all this time for its right of passage. The thing is, right now, the person responsible for this…  
“I understand,” Robert said suddenly, I looked at him.  
“Your grandmother bound your powers and you don’t understand why, if it’s such a gift then why would she do this to you. Why didn’t she tell you any of this before she passed away. You’re ashamed of what’s been done to you by the person closest to you. That’s why you don’t want to accept this, because you were so close to her and this is a betrayal of that bond.”  
“It’s ridiculous how spot on you are,” I said.  
“I've known parents to have bound their children’s powers, Robert would know, it is usually to protect the one whose power is being bound. She must have had a very good reason to keep this from you…” he stopped and considered something.  
“Robert, maybe you can see when she placed it on him the first time, let’s see what we can find out shall we?”  
Both of them stood up, Amlo walked to an open space and stopped infront of a black cube. He motioned me to go to him, I did.   
“This is known as a “sight” cube. It is used by in training sorcerers when they start developing their powers. Stand on that circle over there and I will explain how it works.  
I sighed and stood on the circle.   
“Now, you should have started feeling access to your circuit after I gave you the tea,” Amlo looked all knowingly at me and it annoyed me to know that he’s right.  
“I keep hearing the word ‘circuit’ but I have no idea what it means.”  
“You know in biology, the blood system that runs throughout the entire body? Robert asked me and I nodded.  
“Sorcerers have an additional system, called the magical circuit. It runs tightly along the blood system, the biggest difference is the fact that you can consciously access your magical circuit as opposed to your blood system that goes through diffusion regardless of what you think. Also, instead of blood, this circuit generates energy.”  
“What kind of energy, magic?”  
“For now, yes.”  
“So I can access this circuit consciously?”   
“This cube is designed to help you mentally understand the connection between your mind and the circuit. Now concentrate on the cube, the tea I gave you has a herb that enhances this process, simply focus on the cube.”  
I looked at the cube, I wonder if I can count the ‘special’ tea as being drugged. What did he say? I should have noticed it after drinking the tea. I did. I looked at the cube with a little more enthusiasm. It just lay there on the ground, I concentrated on what I felt earlier, that feeling of something being inside me. The cube moved!  
Ok, I know I did it, I felt it, something reach out to touch it. I exhaled and now really concentrated. The cube began to quiver and then it lifted off the ground, I felt it, this was just like the photo incident when I thought I had hands reach out of me. I felt those hands but it’s not really a hand; that makes it too defined, this is different, like another part of me that is lifting the cube. The black cube hovered in place and began spinning slowly.  
“That’s all you Raven,” Robert said softly behind me. “Now try to keep it there, focus.”  
This is amazing, I kept the cube there, it spun slowly and I thought about the time when Will and I had spat kids with paper ball p-shooters when they were sent by other teachers to our class for some reason. I don’t know why I thought of that, I kept the cube in place but it started spinning faster, like the dummy Gran made me train with, she once baked me a cake for my birthday that looked like Bob. The cube began rotating faster, it annoyed me slightly, like William did when I met him I first grade, we fought like cat and dog that first year. The last week before I moved Will and I rode our bikes everyday just for the sake of hanging out.   
The cube began to levitate higher and spun out of control, like Frank when he broke my arm when I was seven or when he pushed me and I sprained my ankle when I was nine.  
I felt a sharp pain as I remembered those years with Frank, I raised my hand at the cube. Why am I thinking of all these things all of a sudden?  
“Can you feel that?” Amlos said behind me but I paid him no attention, I held out my hand and the cube froze instantly in place. The room vibrated and I immediately looked behind me.  
Robert and Amlo lay on the ground, they were both panting.   
“You felt that, that spell, incredible,” Amlo said to Robert and got up with difficulty.   
“Whats going on?” I asked  
Amlo opened his mouth to say something but stopped when he looked behind me. I followed his gaze but saw nothing out of the ordinary except the cube frozen in place. I looked back at Amlo and saw him tug at Robert who looked at whatever Amlo saw and his facial expression concerned me.   
“The cube, it’s not moving,” Amlo said solemnly.  
“I know, I stopped it,” I said.  
“That’s impressive,” the Sage said.  
“Why is that impressive, I just made it stop?”  
“It feeds of you magic and uses the energy to generate movement, as a beginner you should be able to move it and levitate it, but it feeds of you magic to create movement. It’s designed to maintain movement, for you to have stopped it on your first try is impressive and curios.”  
“Sage, that’s not important,” Robert said. “I am more concerned about what we just saw.”  
I frowned, what did they just see?  
“While you were busy with the cube, we were reading your mind to understand why your Grandmother might have bound your powers, we wanted to see what technique she used to possibly see how long it would take to unwind and whether we could speed up the process or slow it down depending on whatever would be wisest.”  
“Hey is that why I started thinking of random things in my life for no reason?” I demanded  
“Yes, when reading another person’s mind, they make sudden associations with their past without meaning to.”  
“Ok, so what did you guys find?”  
“Something we didn’t expect,” Amlo said gravely and sat down in an armchair that I didn’t notice was there. He looked at the ground for a few seconds then at Robert.  
“I didn't notice it because it has most of the characteristics of a basic binding, it’s while Robert and I read your mind that I sensed it. At first I doubted the odds, then we noticed irregularities in your memory that even you won’t notice and then finally when we reached your memories where you were five years old, we couldn’t go further.”  
“You couldn’t go further? I don’t understand.  
“A powerful memory spell pushed us back with force, I tried to undo the spell and that’s when the binding reacted to my attempted intrusion. I’ve never been so forcibly removed by magic that’s supposed to weaken with the death of its caster. If this was witchcraft it would be understandable, but sorcery rarely has external bindings to a spell. I know of only one person capable of this class of magic.” Amlo looked at Robert and the latter nodded.  
“Lady Es,” Robert said and took a deep breath.   
“It has her signature, you know it Robert, we studied her craftsmanship and now here it is in actual existence on this boy.”  
“What are you talking about, what’s going on who is lady Es?” I've heard Robert and Kristen mention her before.  
“Lady Es was known as one of the greatest practitioners of magic in our time. Her spell casting skills above any who stood against her, she passed away some time ago after she withdrew herself from the magical comunity eleven years ago. It is unclear why she did but it is clear that you came into contact with her. The binding she placed has two functions that I picked up, the first to bind your powers and the second to use the powers it binds to generate one of what I am sure is many defenses to certain memories in your mind.”  
“So this lady Es woman bound my powers and messed with my memories?”   
They both nodded.  
“Why?”  
“That is a very good question, I think that you might have seen something that she didn’t want others to know about. I find it hard to believe but it stands to be the only explanation.”  
“This is good news Raven,” Robert said suddenly.  
“How is this good news that some woman tampered with my head?”  
“The spell and quality of them, their way beyond the skills of any normal sorcerer, not to mention that it has Es’s magical signature on it. Don’t you get what this means?” he looked at me expectantly and it dawned on me.  
“My Gran didn’t do this to me, Lady Es is the one who bound my powers, not Gran and she probably couldn’t say anything for some reason but Gran’s in the clear. She’s innocent!” I felt so relieved, Gran must have been threatened or something, maybe this Es bitch threatened me, that makes more sense, Gran responds to threats against her, but if I was threatened then Gran wouldn’t have done anything to risk my wellbeing. This is the best news ever!  
Behind me a loud banging sound suddenly filled the room, all three of us looked back to see what it was. The cube lay in five pieces on the ground, the wall it lay against had a deep hole where the cube must have hit it.   
“What happened?” I asked.  
“I’m not sure, Amlo?” Robert looked at the Sage who seemed to be in deep concentration.  
“Five,” Amlo said more to himself than to us. “I think it’s time for you to go,” he said sounding agitated.  
“Mage,” Robert said with a less friendly tone.  
“Now, you must go, I have work to do,” he started hushing us to the front door. I got a glimpse of the mirror and saw it reflect Amlo in it. His words echoed in my head.  
It only reflects your enemies…  
Once he got us outside he slammed the door and I heard locks.   
Robert started slamming on the door, demanding that Amlo let him in, demanding answers.  
“Stay here, I’m going to try the back,” he said and as he started the turn I saw him hold out his hand and his gun materialized.   
I felt awkward standing there without any purpose, something about the look Amlo gave me before he chased us out worried me. I looked around, thinking that at any moment he was going to pop out of nowhere and do something to me. I caught sight of the midnight hotel a few streets away and a sudden impulse to go there took over.   
I walked to the hotel, thinking about that magical convention. No, I've known that the midnight hotel wouldn’t host conventions, how stupid of me! The slogan said it all, how didn’t I put two and two together? So obvious, the people there seemed so determined to believe what they were doing was real, it is real, they are real, magic is real all of this is so real. The more I think of it the more logical it seems, things that have been happening to me, my blackout moments. My brain always felt like it was trying to find a part of me and this is it, the part that’s been sealed away from my mind, a part of me that’s always been there! What if this transpires to what I've always wanted, that part that always thought I should be a part of something bigger, is this the grand purpose I have?   
I walked over the bridge, today of all days there’s no commotion that will allow me to slip by the security, there’s not a single person to give me that loop. I still kept walking on until I stood in front of the doors with the guy holding a list.  
“Name,” he demanded looking bored.  
“I’m visiting a friend.” I tried.  
“Name,” he said annoyed.  
“Craig Something,” I couldn’t stop myself from smiling. The man went through his pages then shook his head.  
“There is no Craig Something booked here. Unless you plan on staying here which would require a booking in advance, please leave.”  
I opened my mouth but one of the two guards stepped closer.  
“Is there going to be a problem?” he asked in a deep rugged voice.  
I shook my head and started walking back to the bridge.  
“Raven!” a voice yelled and I looked back to see Vern running to me.  
“Hey Vern” I said and noticed the name keeper’s eyes widened.  
“Come in” he said and nobody obliged.   
I walked inside the building and a sudden urge to kick myself surfaced. I looked at Vern, he looked different, less stressed.   
“What’s up?”   
“I quit,” he said cheerfully.  
“When, today?” I asked him and noticed that he was wearing normal clothes as opposed to what everyone else wore.   
“Yip and now that you’re here I don’t have to go into hiding anymore.” He seemed beside himself, like world peace had just been declared. Wait, what did he mean go into hiding?  
“Why does my being here make a difference?”  
“I’ll explain it to you later. I have a favor to ask first, it’s nothing to do with bookings, it’s actually really small, very minor.”  
My gut told me that he might be masking up the favor a little.  
“What do you want me to do?” I asked.  
“Well you see, I forgot to return my uniform,” he held up a pile of neatly folded clothes. “I’m wondering if you’ll just return it for me, I don’t want to face my boss again.”  
Normally I don’t get involved in trivial matters like these but Vern is a typical guy who doesn’t know how to face things that scare him. Quite plainly, he’s a coward.   
“Why don’t you just give it to the other staff to do it?”  
“In this business, it doesn’t work that way,” he sounded anxious. Ah hell.  
“Ok, where do I take it?”  
The sudden relieve on his face made me a little anxious, his boss must be a scary guy.  
“Ok, take that elevator to the top level, then when your outside, the immediate elevator in front of you, go to that one and go to the top level, here take this,” he gave me a necklace with an amulet on it. “You’re going to need that to get access to the second elevator. When you step out at the second top level there will be two big doors with doorknobs in the shape of eagle heads, knock on the left one three times and wait. When they are opened go left and walk along the passage until you reach the end. My boss’s office is beyond those doors, just put the clothes on the table and walk out without a word.”  
I ran through the whole thing again once in my head and nodded.  
“What if your boss isn’t there?”  
“Don’t worry too much about that, nobody can get in if it’s empty and nobody is allowed in there if its empty because it’s usually locked”. His left eye twitched and he was fidgeting. He’s lying to me about something if not everything.   
“Ok, I’ll be back and then you explain,” I took the clothes and walked to the elevator. I ignored the expression he had on his face, the look of getting away with something.   
I went up the elevator and listened to a classical piano composition.   
It stopped at the top level and I walk straight to the next elevator, I didn’t see any buttons to call the elevator. I took out the amulet Vern gave me, it felt warm in my hand and then the elevator opened. I walked in and pressed the button to the top level.   
The elevator stopped at the third top level and a big man walked in, he reeked of sweat and his arms looked twice the size of my upper leg. He wore a tank top and a pair of shorts, both were red but so smudged with grease and oil that barely any red showed.   
“Where you off to boy?” he asked with a slight Irish accent.  
“I’m returning these, a guy I know quit and asked me to return this to his boss,” I answered.  
The man looked at the clothes I had and then grunted.  
“So Vern couldn’t handle the pressure, the little bastard should have thought of it before he agreed to the conditions of his employment.” He looked up as the elevator doors finally closed.  
“He asked you to return his uniform did he?”   
I nodded.  
“Did he tell you why?”  
I frowned at the Irish man.  
“All for the best, for Vern that is. Clever little bastard.”  
“I'm afraid I don’t understand,” I said.  
“There are rules to quitting from this building, don’t worry, you will understand soon enough.”  
The doors opened and as I got out the man wished me good luck and that he would see me soon.  
I knocked on the eagle head’s three times, walked through them, took the left and walked to the end of the passage. It’s hard to believe how big the space is. I observed that the passageway was heavily decorated with all sorts of collectable assortments. Everything looked expensive and antique, pretty much like everything back at Gran’s…my house.  
I reached the end of the passageway and faced two gigantic doors. I saw no doorknobs and decided to just knock. The first tap made the doors open and I walked through. Two big windows faced the town and stood open, also I’m alone in this office.   
I looked around and my heart started pumping, I have a bad feeling about this in the pit of my stomach. The doors behind me closed by themselves and I tried to open them again but nothing helped.   
I observed the room, there were all kinds of valuables in here, some strange statues and Egyptian urns. The desk was made of wood and there were a whole bunch of books on it, there was also an curios eagle head statue. The chair behind it looked like a throne as opposed to a chair, it had a slight gold look to it but mainly brown. The desk faced away from the big windows that looked at the town. Next to the throne was a massive eagle statue, it felt like it was staring at me.   
This is bad, this is so bad, this is unbelievable!  
On the wall I saw a painting that is more world renowned than Dmitri’s acne condition.   
The Mona Lisa.  
I walked to the painting and examined it carefully, it has to be a fake! Though I admit a very good one.  
I heard doors behind the two big doors and thought about what Vern said about not being in this office alone. I ran to one of the shelves and hid behind a big box but still saw everything in the room.   
The two doors opened.  
“What on earth, these doors aren’t even locked! Where is that boy!”  
My initial shock made me forget for a brief moment that I’m hiding. The woman who walked in was the same woman I saw the last time I ate sushi with Gran. A sudden ping of heartache hit me, sushi won’t be the same.   
I cannot believe this, everything is a mess,” she said to herself. She sat down on the big chair by the table and started going through papers.   
“Such a mess he makes. I really thought that he’d be able to do things better after he cleared up that mess with that pestering Higgins, but argh.” She sat back and took out a cigarette, placed it in her mouth and it started smoking without her even using a lighter or a match.   
She finished smoking it when a voice spoke from the hawk head on her table.  
“Nina, we have a situation with the boiler, one of his workers didn’t show up today, also we have a guest complaining about screaming in the room above theirs.” At the news Nina closed her eyes and took a breath.  
“I told Vern to take care of, for heaven sake where is he!” she said furiously. Clearly he didn’t tell her about his unemployment plans.  
“I’ll be there soon, I just have to deal with a little situation of my own,” she said and then lifted the hawk head and put it down again.   
The drapes of the window behind her closed and the room suddenly became darker.  
“I know there is someone in here,” she said and her voice held a dangerous tone.  
“I will give you five seconds to show yourself or else, three four five. Time’s up.”  
The room shook slightly and then hands reached out of the walls from the shadows. It looked like they were searching for something, they came close to me but moved on. I sighed with relief.  
“Or else,” the woman called Nina said.  
I felt a sudden tingle in my head but it disappeared, I sighed with relief yet again.   
“There you are,” she said and suddenly I heard screaming. The hands returned back into the walls while I peeked from behind the box to see who was screaming.   
A girl with short black hair lay on the ground, she must have been hiding underneath the table next to the fake painting or something.   
She screamed even louder, she kept yelling out that she was burning but I saw no flames.   
“Who do you think you are to be in here without authority?” Nina asked and walked to the girl. “What are you doing in here?”  
The girl kept hitting herself like she was putting out fire but I don’t understand why she thinks she’s on fire.  
“Who do you work for?” Nina asked and put her heel on the girl’s forehead. “Answer me or I’ll run my heel through your skull, or maybe I’ll burn you to a crisp, you decide.”  
Another scream more anguished than any prior to it.   
“Stop it,” I said loud and calm.   
“What?” Nina exclaimed when she saw me rise from behind the box. “Another one?”  
“Stop doing whatever you’re doing to her,” I said and these words made Nina frown.  
“Tell me, this girl, what exactly do you see?”  
“I see a girl on the ground in obvious pain who thinks that she’s on fire.”  
“So she isn’t burning, no flames or anything of the sort?” Nina asked carefully.  
“Obviously not,” I said annoyed.   
“Who are you?” Nina asked after she seemed to understand something.  
“Simon Ellec Raven, everyone calls me Raven.”  
“What is your business in my office, be honest or I will torment your partner again.”  
“Go ahead, she’s not my partner, the only reason I stopped you is because the screaming annoyed me.” I said honestly. Nina’s eyes widened at my words.  
“Then what is your business in my office?”  
“Actually Vern send me to return his uniform, he quit, that’s where he’s been.”  
“Vern sent you to return his uniform?” she asked and I nodded. She laughed.  
“What’s so funny?” I demanded  
“I should have known that little coward had something like this planned. He’s been far too happy lately. You must have done something to give him the guts to do this, what was it?”  
“Nothing, I've only met him once and helped him with the dwarf guy?”  
“The dwarf guy?”  
“Higgins.”  
Understanding came to her face and she nodded.  
“That does explain things. I wondered how he managed to fix that problem by his own, I thought it was suspicious that he didn’t manage to get anything else right, but this makes sense.”  
“Listen, lady, I just came to deliver this and get going,” I placed the clothes on her table and walked to the doors although I have no idea how to open them.  
“I think not Mr. Raven.” Nina said and her tone made me turn around. I froze completely, she held a sword at the girl’s throat.  
“What the hell are you doing?” I asked and took a step closer but Nina held out her hand with the big gemstone ring on it.  
“Take one step closer and I will cut her throat. I run a very Grand business here, there are rules and regulations. You and this girl broke into my office, there are consequences.”  
“I came in here with Vern’s permission, he’s the one who told me how to get in here!” I said outraged.  
“You mean that boy who doesn’t work for me and has no authorization anymore?”  
She’s got me there.  
“I have a proposition of how you can get yourself out of this little mess,” she said through narrowed eyes.  
The word proposition made me thing of Jeffrey Bright, this isn’t the time to bring up marriage jokes, oh God I hope she doesn’t want me to model or strip for her.  
“What do you want?”  
“You see, Vern’s sudden resignation has a serious impact on my company,” I gave her a look. “Well he won’t be missed. But he left me with a big mess. You on the other hand managed to enter my building, fix a few things and gave him the courage to quit.”  
“Your point?”   
She snapped her fingers and a door I hadn’t noticed before opened, from inside a parchment and a quill floated to Nina. She put on a pair of glasses that I hadn’t noticed either and then wrote on the parchment. After a minute the quill and parchment hovered in front of me.   
“That is a contract. Sign it and I will let you leave with your lives.”  
“What kind of a contract?” I asked.   
“To work for me,” he said simply.  
“You think I’ll sign something just because_”  
“Sign or I will kill her in five seconds.”  
Two, three, she pressed the blade, would she really kill the girl?”  
“Times up” she said and started the blade.  
I signed the contract and held it out to Nina who raised the blade away from the girl, the latter had a small trickle of blood running down her neck. Nina took the parchment and walked to the table, she snapped her finger and a bandage flew out of her desk drawer and wrapped itself around the girl’s neck.   
“Congratulations, you are now employed to the midnight hotel as my apprentice. I will see you tomorrow.” The doors to her office opened suddenly.  
“Be here at eight, there is a lot to be done.”  
“No way, I have school,” I said  
“Tomorrow is Saturday.”  
“Tomorrow is Saturday, I have plans.”  
“Oh for God sake, be here at five. If not then I will kill one of the other employees as a result of your insubordination. Do you understand me?”  
“Go ahead,” I said in response.  
“You don’t care if I kill people?” she asked surprised.   
“Nope,” I said in honesty.   
“Then why did you save this girl?”   
“Well, if you’re going to kill someone in front of me that’s slightly different.  
“I’ll Photoshop pictures of you and place them all around the building, you will be naked with a small penis.”  
“I’ll be here at five,” I said and walked to the girl.  
“Leave her, I will have someone get her later, don’t worry, I won’t kill her, you signed a contract remember?” she said when she saw me glare.   
I walked to the elevator. I think I might kill Vern. This was a setup.   
I walked out of the last elevator and looked for that two faced scoundrel in the lobby.   
Where’s Vern?” I asked at the main desk.  
“He’s gone, left the moment he got you up the elevator.” The girl said and I understood the phrase ‘seeing red’.  
I walked out of the hotel seeing it in a whole different light now, a damn dark light.   
Once I got over the bridge my phone rang and I answered.  
“Raven, what happened to you?” Robert asked  
“Got a cab and went home,” I lied.  
“Oh,” he sounded hurt.  
“I felt a little sick, I didn’t want to hold you up, sorry about that.”  
“It must have been the tea, we’ll see you tomorrow then.”   
“See you tomorrow,” I said and hung up. At least I now have an idea of how I’m getting home. I called a cab.   
When I walked into the house Sin and Eclipse jumped me and licked me. (Sin bit me)  
“I missed you guys too!” I yelled and wrestled with the two animals.   
I lay on the ground after we tired and thought about everything. My heart pounded out of excitement, not because of the whole midnight incident but because of everything else. I'm a sorcerer, a magic wielding sorcerer. Inside me there is a magical circuit and I can do things with it, do magical things with it. Sin and eclipse have a purpose in all this though I'm not sure what it is but there will be answers, I just have to wait for tomorrow.   
I stood up and felt something in my pocket, I reached in and pulled out the amulet Vern gave me. I’m sure I left it on the pile of clothes on Nina’s desk, guess I didn't.   
I examined the amulet, there were symbols carved around a bird head. It glowed green in the light though the amulet itself was bronze.   
Sin bit my leg and I looked at him, I thought about that mythical cat and decided that the time had come to face my biggest challenge.   
I walked through the hallway and stopped by the two big doors that led to the room that I've admired the most of all the rooms in the house, I pushed them open and walked in.   
The library.   
The biggest room in the whole house, the shelves were filled with books upon books that stretched over the space that could be covered by a basketball court.  
I started going through the book titles, I’m sure I’ll recognize the book when I see it. I spent hours reading each title of each book, nothing looked to be the book I’m looking for. I stopped to think about it. If Gran could use magic, surely there should be books of magic around here but none of these books were at all magical. They were simple typical books an old woman would have. Story books, cook books, reference books etc. nothing out of the ordinary. With everything that I've learned today I know Gran practiced magic, not to mention her letter also proved as much. So why am I not finding anything that coincides with that?  
I lay down on the ground in defeat and enjoyed the breeze accompanied by that irritating lavender smell and fell asleep.

I floated in the air, I held on to something in my hand, I couldn’t see what it is but I know that its taking me through the air. I decended until I hovered above a three storey building. I flew through the walls and stopped inside a room with a copy machine. Someone walked into the room but didn’t see me there. I couldn’t see the person, just the outlines of a body. The person made copies and examined them slowly. As the person walked to the door he or she gave a sudden jerk and fell to the ground.   
“So this is what happens,” a man said next to me.  
“it is,” I responded and we both looked at the figure on the ground.   
“so where do we go from here?” he asked  
“we go up now,” I answered and we flew up through the ceiling and into the night sky.   
“What about my,”  
Whats done is done, there is no going back, just on.  
Well done.  
The man disappeared and I looked at my hand, I’m definitely holding on to something, but my hand is void of anything visible


	14. he who knew

I woke up feeling groggy and sore. Note to self, we don’t sleep on the ground again, it hurts. Sin lay by my feet and Eclipse’s head rested against my chest, they were sound asleep and felt like dead weight, I should be glad that Sin isn’t sleeping on my chest or I’d be dead. I slowly maneuvered myself out from between them although I woke both of them up in doing so.   
“Well good morning,” I said cheerfully and glimpsed the sky outside. It’s still dark, I looked at my watch, three in the morning, lovely.  
I walked to the kitchen accompanied by Sin and Eclipse who kept pushing against my legs like they were trying to trip me.   
I made coffee instead of eating anything, when I opened the fridge I just saw Gran everywhere. Some of the desserts she made that haven’t been finished yet, I keep expecting her to walk around the corner and tell me to find something before we go to the cave, or there will be no sushi or any other treats for a month.   
I miss her so much, now more than ever with all this magic stuff. If I’d only found out sooner.  
I don’t think I’ll go back to the cave now that there’s no more reason, going there to practice on my own will be really depressing and I don’t plan on being depressed any time soon.   
I sat in silence for some time, I took in the dark backyard and appreciated the transition the rising sun brought with it.   
I turned back when I started hearing an annoyingly loud ‘ticking’ sound.   
“You hear that?” I asked them and they nodded. I walked to where the ticking sound came from, Sin and Eclipse close by, they didn’t push against me this time, instead they treaded a few inches ahead of me. We passed a shield, sword and war hammer on display against the wall and stopped by the stairs. I pressed my head against the wall beneath the flight and listened. The ticking came from the other side, I never thought that the stairs were hollow beneath. I walked around to see if I could find any means of entrance fact that there isn’t any way in did not surprise me, I do have an alternative means of entrance in mind.  
“Ok guys, were taking down the wall,” I said and took the war hammer and counted to three and after a moments hesitating slammed the hammer against the wall. I slammed again and again until I could see inside the hole I made. I felt a pang of guilt at destroying a small part of the house but the ticking will drive me crazy. I just hope I’m at the right place otherwise the demolition would be all for naught.   
I saw a wooden crate inside and reached in to get it out. The damage was big enough to fit the wooden crate through. I saw no lid or anything that would make it easier to access the content; I saw a lot of hay but not the source of the ticking. I took the hammer and smashed the crate to smithereens. I rummaged through the lose hay and found in the midst of it a clock. It ticked proudly with excessive noise in my hands which gave me a sudden urge to use the hammer on it. I took the annoying time piece to the kitchen for closer examination. I sat down and took what was left of my coffee.  
The clock is nothing like anything I've seen before in my life. There were five indicators, the smallest being too slow for a second indicator but possibly a minute indicator, succeeding the minute indicator I can only assume is the hour indicator since it also went up to sixty. The third indicator went up to fifty two, which means it represents weeks, the fourth went up to twelve and since I started with minutes and went up to weeks, I suppose the twelve must be the months. The last one boggled me, I suppose it must be years but it only goes up to five hundred but it’s at one right now.   
I looked at the general time the clock gave, one year, six months, 2 days, 15 hours and forty minutes? It’s wrong, were at the end of March not the beginning of June. I tried to find the tuner but nothing popped out anywhere that could adjust the time. Who invents a clock that can’t be adjusted? I looked at the thing again, I wonder who thought to take it up to five hundred only, it probably resets or something.   
Then the minute hand moved and I frowned, it didn’t go forward, instead it went back to point at thirty nine minutes. I waited until it moved back again to point at the thirty eight minute number.   
So if it’s not moving forward and going backwards instead, it’s obviously not telling the time, its counting down instead. Logic dictates that something is supposed to happen when you count down, what’s going to happen when this clock reaches a complete zero? The bigger question is why did it start ticking so loudly tonight of all nights, what’s so special about this particular night and why did Gran hide it somewhere I could find it? That beats the whole point of hiding anything.  
Sin smelled the clock then looked at me like he was puzzled.  
“Don’t ask me, I have no idea what this is all about,” I said to him and he just bit my toe.  
I took the clock to the basement and stuffed beneath some old pillows to keep the ticking from driving me mental. I walked back to the stairs to the first floor and thought how weird it is that the basement is so small compared to all the other rooms. I had another cup of coffee and scribbled on a sheet of paper, just a few odd shapes here and there, nothing exceptionally significant but I've never been a Leonardo da Vinci. I thought about the Mona Lisa in Nina’s office, there’s no way its real, it has to be a fake. I thought about how I should just have laid low until she had finished tormenting that girl and maybe I would have been able to get out of there Scott free. I looked down at the sheet of paper expecting a disorganized load of scribbles but it didn't happen, the little odd shapes were now in a circle that I don’t remember making. I took the sheet and threw it in my school bag. I’m not bored enough to try to decipher whatever I’m drawing.   
I told Sin and Eclipse to go play in the forest for a bit, I can do without all the chunks of flesh that Sin is trying to take out of me every time we play, not to mention that I can’t keep them stuffed up in here all the time, it can’t be healthy.   
I watched them as they ran through the backyard and I closed my eyes and concentrated. I could feel the two of them, they are connected to me, the best way to describe it would be to say that it felt like there were two threads reaching out of me and in to me. One for Sin and one for Eclipse.   
I walked to the living room when someone knocked on the front door. I looked at the time, who’s awake at five in the morning. I opened the front door and a bolt of lightning hit to my left and as I looked out the window I felt a sudden pain to my head and everything went black.   
I heard singing and slowly regained consciousness, my head stung like a bitch and my face was soaked from the rain. I looked up and saw I was in the forest, the fact that it’s freezing and dark makes me fairly sure I'm in the dark forest. I tried to get up but my hands were tied to a tree behind my back.   
I looked around but couldn’t see anyone. My annoyance grew as the rain pounded against my face.   
I tried pulling my wrist out of the rope but to no avail.   
“Oh come on!” I yelled out of frustration.  
“So you’re awake,” a voice said and my stomach suddenly felt hollow as I recognized who it belonged to.  
Frank walked out from between two trees, he looked like a starved child, his cheeks sunken in and I noticed dark circles beneath his eyes.   
“Are you kidding me?” I said outraged. “For real? You hate me so much you just had to kidnap me. What did I do this time? I don’t even live with you anymore!”   
“Enough!” he yelled at me. “After everything-” he started but I cut him off.  
“”You’ve done to me? All the beatings, hateful words, your finally rid of me. You’re no longer my legal guardian, Gran’s lawyer must have sent you a letter or something. I’m no longer your problem, you finally succeeded in getting me out of your life, go celebrate it, drink, get wasted, jump of a bridge, whatever just leave me out of it. Your free of me now, hell, move on with your life.”  
“I can’t, not with you around; I will never be free of you.” He spat at me.  
“Because it’s not the same when there nobody to beat up?” I retorted. I know that I’m not in the best situations to be giving him mouth but I’m just so sick and tired of this bullshit.  
“As long as you live I will never be free,” he said more to himself than to me.   
Uh oh, that doesn’t sound good. I tried getting my hands lose again with a little more desperation.   
He raised his hand and had the knife again.  
“Not this again!” I tried harder but the rope wouldn’t yield. Frank came closer and I did the only think I could, I kicked like a mule and hit him where no man should ever be hit. Her doubled over in pain but I still couldn’t get anywhere with the rope. I felt something inside of me and remembered the magical circuit. So as a sorcerer it stands to reason that I should be able to get out of this predicament somehow but the real question is how…  
Frank got up with difficulty and I clenched my teeth together and concentrated, there has to be a way out of this. My body felt weird, tingly, it started in my chest, a weird feeling, a good feeling. I felt it in my chest and then it began to spread. The same feeling started to go throughout my body and slowly all the sensations started connecting with each other. I looked at Frank and his eyes widened. Something spooked him but I don’t know what. All the connections were made and I felt different, better in a way. I clenched my fists and found that I could concentrate some of the feeling in my body to a certain area; I focused on my left hand.  
“No, you will not-” anything after that fell on deaf ears. I took a deep breath and the rope tied to my left arm started to smoke and then caught fire and came lose. I pulled out of the way just as Frank brought the knife down and ended up stabbing the tree instead of me. I jumped up and concentrated on my right hand to get the rope off. It singed and came lose. Frank made the next attack but I dodged and pushed him from behind. Suddenly my mind began applying all the stuff Gran had me learn and practice. Frank tried to land a punch but I hit his elbow on the nerve and sent him back with a kick. I can do this, I can win, I can leave unscathed.   
I noticed that the feeling I felt while tied to the tree began to fade away, the connections were being disconnected.   
I tried to force it back but it faded from my mental reach. I heard something and when I looked up Frank threw mud in my face. I wiped it off and the blade came down on me. I lifted my hands to take the blow and felt something push out of me and shove Frank back against the ground. His eyes were wide with terror. That’s one round for magic and none for the lunatic father.  
“So you’ve become one of them, a monster”,” he said getting up from the muddy ground.  
“I’m not a monster, I’m just…me,” what did he just say? Something he said on that night came back to me. “You know, of course. You’ve always known.”   
“About the truth, what you and that woman can do? About what you really are?”  
“Is that why you hate me so much? Because I’m not normal!”   
“I couldn’t care less about magic and all that, you are an abomination and one day your true colors will show again. This person you are now, I can see through the act, I remember who you were all those years ago, the real monster you are, the world isn’t safe from people like you.”  
I let the rain pour on me, I never knew that I was that bad, I know full well what he’s talking about but I never thought I was that bad.   
“I learned from the best,” I said keeping my gaze on him.  
He fumed but didn’t launch at me, we stared at each other while the rain continued.   
After all the years I find myself unafraid of him. When I still lived with him I use to be scared, now he’s just the guy who beat me. He’s nothing more than a bad time in my life.   
“You’re not one of us,” I said and he shook his head.  
“Your mother, not me.” He said softly and closed his eyes. His whole demeanor changed, like he had given up or something. He dropped the knife on the ground and turned around.  
“I hate seeing you, everything about you, I see you, and I see the person who killed her.”  
“Then why don’t you just move, go away and just never see me again, won’t that solve your problem?’ I looked at my sides, my hands were still there though I‘m sure they had moved out of their own. I looked at Frank, his eyes seemed darker somehow though I can’t explain it.   
He walked away without another word. I stood in the rain for another ten minutes before I started walking myself.   
If anything Frank just confirmed that I am a sorcerer though he describes me as being a monster, I no longer need any kind of confirmation. I didn’t really pay attention to my surroundings; my body was on auto pilot and took me home while I pondered on how I stopped Frank without touching him. Is that magic, the raw magic they mentioned yesterday? I tried to get that part again; I tried to find that place again.   
In my head I could still feel it, very faint but I knew it was there. I paused when I heard a sound close by. I listened intently and when I reached a tree I looked up and saw three baby kittens high up in the branches. They were stuck.  
“Well how did you get up there?” I asked but they just kept yelling out in fear.   
I found the lowest branch and climbed up. As I climbed up the slippery branches I got a cut from one of the thorns protruding out of the branches.   
“You just have to get stuck in a tree full of thorns, why am I doing this,” I muttered as I climbed up.   
The branches were slippery and proved as much when my foot lost its grip and I scathed my knee. The thorns became more prominent the higher up I climbed. I reached the first kitten and faced a slight dilemma. If I don’t take all three at once then I'm going to have to climb up again and at some point I'm going to get hurt, slip, fall or something. I reached out for the kitten and took her firmly in my hand; I considered taking another kitten but decided against it when I recalled how slippery the branches are. I climbed down carefully and only at the last branch did my foot slip and I fell but landed on my feet but my legs didn’t take all the impact and I ended up sitting on the ground.   
“Well I’m already wet so falling in a puddle of watery mud probably doesn’t matter,” I muttered and looked up to see the next kitten in line to be saved. The black one sat wedged between three branches and looked quite safe, the ginger one didn’t look all to safe on a single branch. I climbed up but got cut on my left arm; I reached the top and took the ginger cat. As I climbed down I thought about how stupid this whole business is. It would have been less dangerous to just call the fire department, isn’t this one of the services they provide?  
I misjudged the strength of a branch and it snapped when I let my full weight on it. The branches on the way down deleted my full momentum but they were full of thorns and each did its damage on me. I got to the ground, landed on my feet but still fell forward on my stomach, somehow I managed to keep the cat out of harm’s way and as I lay on the pavement I let her go. She went to sit next to the white cat and just stared at me.   
I rolled my eyes and slowly got up. I reached behind me and felt my backside, the shirt didn’t feel too torn but I felt the parts where those thorns had pierced skin.   
One more to go, then I'm going home. I started up the tree again and found the cat where I left it!  
Shit!  
Of course the black cat moved, the little monster had moved and slipped. It hung by its little paws and I moved faster even if it meant that I had to get a few more scrapes here and there.   
“Hold on!” I yelled like it could understand me. As I climbed I could see the kitten slipping.  
I climbed faster but saw the cat lose its grip.   
I jumped with as much force as I could muster and held my hand out for the cat. I caught her before she could get touched by any of the thorns and I felt a sudden wave of relief wash over me. Then another wave rushed over me, gravity.   
I began falling down and mentally prepared myself for the pain of a broken bone somewhere in my body. I held the black kitten in my arms and closed my eyes.   
Something on my chest felt really warm but I embraced the heat, a different feeling ran through my body, I don’t know where I’ve felt it before but it sped through my entire body and felt weird, like it was telling my body how it should be acting instead of how it is acting. The sensation disappeared as fast as it came and I opened my eyes, I stood on the pavement with the cat in my arms, I put him down and watched as the three of them walked away suddenly.   
I looked at my arms and saw that the wounds were pretty much healed. So this is happening again, healing, I wonder if it comes with the magic.  
I finally got to my house and found the front gate unlocked. I opened it and as I took the first step into the yard a sudden depression hit me. I looked back and my eyes found someone across the street. I could see that this person was part of the magical community. He wore a pitch-black cloak with weird runes on them that I thought looked somewhat familiar. He had his hood up and I couldn’t see his face. He raised his hand slightly and my entire body felt like it was bound by cement or something, I couldn’t move anything. Whatever he’s doing its worse than what Kristen did. Way worse. I began feeling depressed and miserable, I don’t know why, the emotion didn’t feel like it belonged to me. I looked at the hooded figure, beneath the cloak I saw a black leather jacket, beneath that a blood red shirt, something dangled around his neck, I could see the shape of the thing, it wasn’t small like the ring I had around my neck, it was bigger, he turned his hand slightly with a jerk and I flew into the yard and hit the base of Grans willow tree.   
I made sure that I didn’t have any wound when the front gate began shaking violently. The hooded guy walked in, as the cloak moved I saw he wore two belts over his jeans, they were placed horizontally over his black jeans. He took a step in a puddle of water and I saw his shoes, boots with silver crosses.   
He raised both his hands and the ground began to shake, the branches curled around me and held my hands tight.   
I decided, this guy just looks awesome, if he kills me right now I won’t complain. It’s not like Frank, if Frank killed me that would be like an insult. Whoever this person is, I vote him cool enough to kill me.  
He looked behind him and I understood, I could feel the threads as they came, Sin and Eclipse, ha! Maybe I won’t die by this guy’s awesomeness today. He turned back to me and then something weird happened, he began to fade and suddenly completely dissolved into the air.   
The branches let me go as Sin and Eclipse ran into the yard and immediately ran to me when they saw me. We went inside and I changed into dry clothes and took a deep breath. I have to admit, it feels like a lot of things have been happening since I found out about magic.   
I went back to Gran’s library and found a book full of dessert recipes. I took it to the kitchen and opened it at a chocolate dessert that I liked. Sin and eclipse sat quietly by the door as I mixed ingredients and set the oven on the right temperature. Every odd occasion Sin would lick his nose but other than that they didn’t move.   
I put the bowl Gran used for the desert in the oven and smiled when I recalled the time I dropped one of her bowls on the ground during one of my mental moments.   
Now that I think of it, I haven’t had an episode for a while, oddly enough I’m not even concerned that I will have another one any time soon. I waited for the dessert and thought about the cave, I really want to go there again sometime.   
I found myself thinking about Ashe, it’s Saturday so Jessica is probably visiting her, maybe they’re at the small mall, I don’t need anything from there so I don’t need to go but maybe I should go just to see what happens.   
I checked the time on Gran’s freaky Cheshire cat clock, I don’t know why she kept it all these years. Its eyes moved from left to right with each second, as did its tail. It creeps me out how it smiles all the time. I hate those eyes, left to right, left to right, left, right, left, right…  
“Ouch!” I yelled when sin bit my leg, I only now heard the ringing from the timer and frowned, the Cheshire cat said that thirty minutes had just gone by, I think I just zoned out there for a second.   
I turned off the oven and left the dessert inside. I walked to the living room when there was a knock on the front door. I opened it and Kristen and Robert stood there.   
“Raven!” She exclaimed and hugged me as she came in, I guess they don’t need another invitation.   
“How are you?” Robert asked.  
“Good and you?” I closed the door after him.  
“Good, actually no, I am not. I can’t believe you left me alone there, you should have said that you were feeling sick, do you know how it feels when someone suddenly disappears?”  
“Not really, but Robert.”  
“Not to mention that Sage Amlo has packed up and gone by the time I went back there again this morning.”  
“Ok, but Robert,” I tried to say but he started again  
“I mean aren’t you in the least bit curios about what he had to say, I know I am, I couldn’t get much out of him but the little bit that I heard from him.”  
“I understand, but you need to shut up,” I said and he frowned as did I when I looked at my hands to see them still where I left them at my side.   
“Ok, so what do you know about a woman named Nina?” I asked and both of them went pale.  
Nina, you’re not talking about the midnight hotel Nina?”  
“Before I answer that, let’s say in theory that I am in fact talking about her, would that be a bad thing?”  
“Raven, Nina Bell is famous for being extremely ruthless and dangerous. She’s dangerous and…” he frowned at me and Kristen opened her mouth to say something but Robert beat her.  
“Did you meet Nina?” he asked.  
“I might have been in her presence for a period of time,” I said with a grin.   
“What were you doing talking to her?” he asked slowly, like each word was fundamentally important by itself and needed emphasis.   
“Raven, did you sign a contract?” Kristen asked.  
“I might have signed one, in my defense she was going to run a sword through a girl’s neck.”   
Both of them exchanged glances that I noticed.  
“What’s going on?”  
“You’re under contract with Nina, what position did you sign yourself into?” Kristen asked and she looked concerned.  
“If I remember correctly, I’m taking the place of her apprentice.”  
Neither of them said a word.  
“Is that bad?”  
“You’re going to be Nina Belle’s apprentice, wow,” Kristen said and sat down like the news made her knees weak.   
“I have to do something about this,” Rob said.  
“Robert, even we don’t have authority over Nina, I don’t think we can do anything about what’s happened, it’s done,” Kristen said.   
“I won’t give up so fast, come on Raven, were taking care of this,” he grabbed my hand but I pulled back.  
“Hold there speedy, I don’t have to be in until five, I won’t go in any earlier than that.”  
“Raven!”  
“Robert, sit your ass down somewhere, even if you have the right intention, what if you fail and I end up working four hours earlier because of it. I don’t think so.”  
“Tell us what happened then,” Kristen said and I recalled the whole story about Vern and how I helped him and then how he tricked me yesterday.   
“I don’t think we have much jurisdiction if any on Nina Bell’s property.   
“Why are you guys so scared of Nina Bell?  
“She’s a powerful witch,” Robert said softly. “Probably more powerful than Kristen and I put together.  
“So what exactly is the midnight hotel?” I changed the topic. I mean Kristen and Robert are kids so an older person must be more powerful than them anyway.  
“It’s a hotel for sorcerers, Nina made it so that humans can’t see it, only we can,” he looked at me and then Kristen.  
“It’s a very cool hotel, each level meets the needs of a client and you can even choose the theme of your visit. The extracurricular activities are awesome not to mention some of them are used to help us develop our powers. There’s almost nothing that the hotel doesn’t manage to provide.”  
I thought about it for a second then nodded.  
“So if this is such a grand hotel then why is it here, why isn’t it in New York or somewhere?  
“The hotel is on neutral ground, it acts as a doorway between the human side and the magic side.”  
“I don’t understand,” I admitted.  
“Ok, so there are two dimensions, this one and the magical dimension. Think of it as two worlds, Earth and then magic Earth and the only way to access magic earth is through a certain doorway, the midnight hotel being one of the many.” Robert looked at me then smiled. “Don’t worry, you’ll understand everything once you get more use to the magical world.”  
“I hope so,” I said wondering how this will make sense.  
“Raven, what is that I’m smelling?” Kristen asked.  
I took a whiff and smiled.  
“It’s a chocolate dessert I made a few minutes ago before you guys showed up.” Gran loved me for many reasons but the fact that I showed skills in the kitchen must have been her greatest joy. I remember how proud she was when I finished backing a carrot cake once, I’m never going to see her smile like that again, suddenly I wished I took photos of her with the camera. I cut us a piece of the dessert and we ate some of it, as I ate it I thought about Ashe, I wonder if she’ll like this.  
“What did you mean when you said you got something from Amlo, what did you get?” I asked Robert  
“Well, it was very fast, hard to pick up, but he was concerned about the fact that you damaged the cube, he thought that your power must be great for you to have done that without any magical exposure in your life. The rest he kept to himself,” Robert said and took another bite.   
I concentrated on what he had just said, took every word in and then I considered his behavior from the moment I met him.   
“You said that it was an interesting book,” I said remembering that free period.  
“What are you talking about?” he narrowed his eyes.  
“You said it was an interesting book, but you couldn’t have known what book I was reading because I lost the cover some time ago and it was only black outside, there’s no way you could have known what the book was about. When Frank….you knew instantly without actually have seen what happened. You picked all that stuff from Amlo but I was there, he never said anything. On the other hand, I'm sure he was thinking it. ”I let the pieces place themselves, this is magic, so it is possible.  
“You can hear people’s thoughts, like a mind reader.”  
His eyes were wide with shock or something,   
“So am I right?” I asked  
“Yeah,” he said frowning.” My ability is to hear thoughts, not a lot of people figure it out that fast though.”  
“How did you do it, I didn’t see you with a gun or anything, neither did she have anything on her when that explosion happened, thought you guys said something about units or such, how are you able to, you know or is that raw magic” I asked  
Robert laughed  
“Your very bright and no it’s not raw magic,” he said and put his plate down and put his arm behind Kristen’s back, she sat back in response. I don’t think she saw his arm but she sat back like they were that attune to each other.   
“So amongst the sorcerers there are several classes. Class one refers to your basic sorcerer, one who can do basic magic without a unit, nothing great but basic spells, incantations etc. The second class is a little different. If you are a class two sorcerer, it means you can do everything that the first class can do, except you have an additional skill. I can read minds for example where any other sorcerer would need to use a unit to access that type of magic. It’s a special ability that I have and I don’t need a unit for it. The same goes for Kristen, she can do the stuff a class one can do but she has an additional power born only to her.”  
“So class two sorcerers are stronger than class one?” I asked.  
“In a sense, it depends on the power, if I were in a fight my power might help me predict the next attack, on the other hand, if I fought against Kristen, I would lose because her ability surpasses mine because it’s physical.”  
I don’t really understand all of what he said but I’m just going to nod like I do.   
“So do we need to have a unit, I mean, if I can use magic without one then it’s not that big of a deal right?”  
“First of all, every sorcerer needs a unit. It’s going to matter once we figure out if you’re a universal or specific sorcerer.” Kristen said and I saw Sin stalk through the hallway.  
“What does that mean?” I asked.  
“Before you worry about what class sorcerer you are, you need to know what kind of sorcerer you are. There are two kinds of sorcerer, universal and limited or specifics. Specifics are different from universals because they can only use certain magic. Without their unit their limited to very basic magic, mainly raw and since they don’t have that much power its very simple magic that they use. With a unit they get access to more magic but nothing complex, they can’t do half the stuff that we can,” he finished.  
“You’re universal, what does that mean then?”  
“Its means that I’m more powerful than a specific. My magical circuit still grows where specific’s magic reaches a certain point and won’t develop further than that. I can use more advanced magic and I’m not so limited by what I can to do with my power as they are.”  
I watched Eclipse run through the hallway, she stopped looked left and then right and proceeded forward. They’re chasing each other. I could feel Sin close by, eclipse just had to go a little more.  
“Ok, so how do we figure out what I am?” the two of them were within inches of each other.   
“It’s hard to say, normally we look at the lineage of a sorcerer and if they have parents of specific nature then you have an idea. It mainly comes down to the way a sorcerer uses magic as a child, but with you that’s a bit of a problem.   
There was a sudden commotion and I heard something break, I hope it’s not Gran’s Egyptian urn, I love that urn.  
“What was that?” Kristen asked and held out her hand, the fan manifested.  
Eclipse came running past us at full speed, Sin hot on her tail.  
“What the!” Robert yelled out and jumped out of the way, his gun appeared in his hand and he pointed it at the two animals but they were gone before he had any aim.   
“Were those?” Kristen began asking.  
“Sin and Eclipse, the leopard is Sin, Eclipse is the cheetah. Don’t hurt them, their only fooling around.” I heard the front door and waited to see who it could be.   
“I overslept, it is a Saturday after all I'm allowed to,” Jason said and shook the wet drops from his hair. “Did I miss anything?” he asked with a grin.  
“The Sage freaked out, Raven is employed as Nina’s apprentice starting within the next three hours and there’s a leopard and a cheetah running around the house and Raven isn’t popping a vein, that’s pretty much it,” Robert said in a matter of fact tone.  
“You get around don’t you,” Jason said to me as he took of his jacket.   
“I do what I can.”   
“You met Sin and Eclipse?” Jason asked and put his jacket away.  
“You knew about them?” Kristen asked surprised.  
“I was there when he got them,” Jason said nonchalantly.  
“When was that?” Robert asked.  
“The day his Grandmother passed away,” Jason gave me a sympathetic look, I smiled but felt that hollowness in my stomach.   
“Jason, why didn’t you tell us about this?” Kristen demanded and she seemed tense.  
“I thought your boyfriend had already mind read it out of me, besides I don’t see what the big deal is,” Jason said with his hands in his pocket.  
“You don’t? Doesn’t it look slightly suspicious to you? He has a good connection with two wild cats he’s only met once, how they just come out and protect him, how he walked to them as they came to him, none of that seems suspicious?” Robert asked, I'm glad I figured out he’s a mind reader otherwise everything he just said would have been creepy.   
“I know where you’re going with this Robert, but listen, you guys said he had the right kind of magic, raw magic, doesn’t that mean he’s safe. You think I wasn’t concerned about this myself?”  
“You were?” Robert sounded surprised.  
“You fail as a telepath dude. I've been thinking about it all the time, actually I'm surprised you didn’t pick it up sooner to be quite honest.”  
Robert looked between the two of us and then more at me.  
“You knew they were in the house, did you think about them by any chance?”  
“Yeah, when they stalked in the hallway, I wondered what they were doing,” I said and concentrated to figure out where those two were. I wanted them to come here and felt them coming closer.   
“What are you doing right now?” Robert asked.  
“I’m telling them to come here,” I answered. Robert frowned and closed his eyes, like he was really concentrating hard on something.   
“Think something,” he said.   
How am I supposed to think something on demand, it’s like saying sing a song on the spot. Should I think of something, the Statue of Liberty? Maybe I should think of someone, Ashe sterling. Oh crap. That’s embarrassing. I looked at Robert, waiting for him to start laughing but he just frowned.  
“Nothing,” he said and looked at Kristen. “I can feel it there, but I can’t get anything from him.”  
“How is that possible?” Jason asked and looked at me intently.  
“I think he might be a class two, his ability probably protects his mind.”  
“Couldn’t you read his mind before?” Jason demanded.  
“Yeah, but his powers were bound, I think with the binding coming undone his powers are beginning to manifest like they should. I’m not entirely surprised that his power generated a mental shield, considering how he hid so much about himself from everyone, not letting anybody in. It must be why it took this form. I never thought I would see another one,” he started mumbling to himself. Kristen looked at me and then tilted her head slightly.  
“You think he can project it?” she asked curiously.  
“No, his shield is only a strain of the actual ability. He can’t protect anyone else, though I can’t be sure since I don’t know exactly what his class two ability is.”  
“What’s that smell?” Jason asked randomly, I rolled my eyes deliberately and told him to go plate up what he finds in the kitchen, I am not doing it again.   
“What were you guys so concerned about earlier, with sin and eclipse?”  
They exchanged looks and I wonder what’s so serious. Robert took the stand again.  
“Ok, so there are many kinds of magical beings, witches, sorcerers and then you have spirit warriors. Each specie uses a different kind of magic. We use sorcery, witches use the craft, nature magic. Spirit warriors harness a completely different branch of magic, not exactly magic like we have. They harness the energy we call spirit and it works completely different from the magic we use.  
“What do you mean?” I asked.  
“Spirit Warriors – as their title suggests – are fighters, they use their powers for combat, they can’t do any of the stuff we can do with our magic. The thing is, they are extremely powerful and can be very dangerous. Spirit warriors aren’t met with open arms in our community, there have been wars and casualties. History reminds us that we cannot befriend them,” he finished.   
“I still don’t fully understand what a spirit warrior is and why you were so concerned that I might be one.”  
“Thing is,” Jason said walking in, he had a bowl in his hands and I could see that he had taken a second helping. “We use an instrument to channel our magic with, a wand or a sword, a gun or whatever. Spirit warriors use a different weapon, like it says, they use spirit and they don’t have access to raw magic like we do, only spirit. They extract the spirit of an animal and can use it in combat. It’s stronger than magic since its pure energy.   
“Isn’t magic also energy from the body?” I asked.  
“Yeah, but spirit energy is extracted from the entire body, where our magic is part of a circuit.” Jason said like that finalized the whole argument.  
Sin snoozed in the far corner, I looked at him; he lay on his back with all four paws in the air and Eclipse lay close by. I could feel her in my head.   
“So I still don’t see how it works, they just extract the soul of any animal?”   
“No,” Robert said firmly. “They can only extract the spirit energy of whatever animal they are given reign over.”  
“Meaning?”   
“Spirit warriors have reign over a certain kind of animal only, when they use their spirit powers, the animal over which they rule will simply fall into a slumber, while they sleep their spirit is then summoned by the warrior and used for combat, most of the time.”  
“What else can it be used for?” I asked hearing Roberts hint.  
Kristen sighed and rubbed Rob’s back, apparently trying to soothe him or something.   
“You see, spirit is the life essence of that animal, once a spirit warrior has the right to extract that energy, it’s theirs to do with whatever they want to. They can fight with it, kill with it or add the life essence to their own and extend their lifespan by whatever amount the animal would naturally still have left. The animal would then just take a last breath in its slumber state and then die.”  
That’s disgusting, killing to extend your own lifespan.   
“Does it make them immortal?” I asked her.  
“Not completely, according to what we know, they can still be hurt, but let’s say that a spirit master as absorbed three spirits to his own, you’ll have to kill him three times and then a fourth time, you understand. Every spirit he takes in, acts as a shield while he lives out the remaining years of that spirit. It’s the closest to immortality anybody has ever gotten. The mechanics of it is a secret amongst the spirit warriors.”  
“So if one of them has the life span of a butterfly, it’s not really much is it?”   
“No, unless you take one day of every butterfly, lets jut estimate it to one million, that’s one million days added to your life, that makes it,” she started doing the math in her head.  
“Two thousand seven hundred and forty years, give or take,” I said and she nodded.  
“Though spirit warriors have another ability, they can take another spirit warrior’s animal for their own. We’re not sure how but that said, we haven’t been exposed to spirit warriors to actually ask the how’s and why’s. “  
“So you guys think I’m one of these, or could be one of them?”   
“No, spirit warriors don’t have the magic to manipulate the cube, besides, we’ve been sensing raw magic from you, spirit warriors don have raw magic, your either a spirit warrior or a sorcerer, there’s no in between.”  
Well I'm relieved.  
“So how exactly am I expected to learn about magic?” I asked.  
“We brought you a spell book!” Kristen said and opened her handbag and rummaged through it.   
“It’s not in here,” she said annoyed and then looked at Robert, “did you put it in like I told you to do?”  
He smiled at her and then shook his head.  
“It slipped my mind,” he admitted.  
She got up and pulled him to the front door.  
“We’ll be back in a minute,” Kristen said and dragged Robert outside.   
“I have to go too,” Jason announced suddenly.  
“You just got here, where do you need to be?” I asked  
“My dad has a meeting that I need to attend, I’ll be back soon, leave some dessert!” he ran to the front door after Kristen and Robert and I found myself alone with Sin and Eclipse.   
I lay down on the sofa and pondered on whether I should swim or stay inside, I don’t care much for the rain, I mean I’m going to be wet either way so it stands to reason that a few drops of rain won’t be that much of a bother. Eclipse came to sit right in front of me, the black lines beneath her face gave her that sad expression, I ran my hand along the lines and she vibrated.   
I took the dishes to the kitchen and opened the tap, Eclipse remained by my side.  
“Am I a spirit warrior? I asked her and she didn’t nod or shake her head. I looked at the dishes and felt something onside me stir. It felt like the same something I felt with the cube. I closed my eyes and tried to get a better feel. Right there, inside my body, I felt that other part of me, the magical circuit, well I hope it’s the magic circuit or else I'm feeling something I shouldn’t be.   
I somehow connected with it, it’s hard to explain but I managed to link with it.   
I opened my eyes and looked at the dishes. I took deep breaths and focused. One of the dishes lifted up, I could feel the dish like I was holding it and now I just had to get the sponge to wash with. I gave it as much mind focusing as I could, the red sponge lifted up next to the plate. I imagined the sponge washing the plate. The only reaction I got was the plate breaking in half and the sponge launched to my left. I manually turned the tap water of and looked at the neatly split plate. I tapped my finger on the counter, my ring made a metallic ‘clack’ every time it touched the surface.   
Eclipse rubbed herself against my leg, I thought about the missing Bob and I wonder how he would have reacted to the two new additions of the house. I don’t think he’s going to come back, I just have a feeling that I might never see that fat cat again.  
I heard the front gate open and went to inspect who it is.   
My stomach went into a knot, my throat turned dry and my brain went into a jelly state.   
Ashe sterling walked down the pathway to the front door, I didn’t think she’d really show up.   
I ran to the front door and opened it. The security gate is barely ever locked but Jason must have closed it, I unlocked it and Ashe looked up to see me. She smiled and I felt so excited or happy or something, it’s hard to pinpoint the exact feeling.   
“Hi,” she said and her eyes land on me and my whole body had to fight the urge to just stare.  
“Hey there, come in,” I managed with a bit of a stutter. I can’t believe I'm acting like a dumbass.  
“Can I get you something to drink or eat, there’s a chocolate dessert in the kitchen, I’ve only had good reviews about it so far,” I won’t say who gave me those reviews.  
She nodded and I walked to the kitchen not sure what I should say to her, I ran conversations through my head but right now I wish I had Robert’s ability, just to have some idea of what’s going on in Ashe’s mind.  
Sin ran through the backdoor into the kitchen, in his mouth a rose, he set it down turned around, hit his head on the counter, growled at the counter, scratched the counter and then ran out again. I picked up the rose, it’s not the best one, clearly I haven’t been paying that much attention to the garden, I could see some pests had had a few munches on the pedals.   
“Hello?” I heard Ashe in the hallway. I walked to her and when she saw me she looked slightly relieved. “I got a little lost, this house is huge.”  
She saw the rose and frowned at it.  
“I picked this out of the garden, I thought about putting it in a vase, but I’ve just decided to give it to you,” I handed her the rose and I’m sure her cheeks turned redder as she took it.  
“I’ve never seen a rose this perfect,” she said and looked at it carefully. From where I stood I noticed that the flaws I saw just a few seconds ago were gone.   
“You live here all by yourself?” she asked and looked around, I can imagine, the kitchen alone is too big for any normal one person, never mind every other room in the house and then of course the house itself is so big, I can easily keep an army in here, the hell did Gran manage to survive all those years living alone.  
“It’s not so bad, I’m used to having myself as company,” even as I said it I thought I should just slam my head against the counter out of sheer stupidity. It sounds like I like my lonesome life without people.  
“I can relate,” she said and pressed the rose to her nose and smelled it. I so badly just wanted to reach out with my hand and touch her, a simple touch, but I exercised self-restraint.   
I heard music playing from inside the house, Ashe heard it too, I walked to the room where the music came from. I'm sure I saw a spotted tail by the window when we walked into the music room with all the instruments Gran bought me. I have to admit that I never knew how much space this room had available.  
“Is that Mozart?” Ashe asked but she didn’t walk into the room. I looked into the hallway to see where she was and saw her frown at something behind me. “What happened to your staircase?” she walked to where I made a hole at the base of the staircase.   
“I just woke up and felt in the mood to destroy something for absolutely no reason,” I said.  
She frowned at me slightly, then peeked inside the hole.  
“Do you get those often, moods to just destroy a part of your house?” she asked and smiled, in that moment my heart forgot to beat.   
I shook my head, not trusting my voice at all. I felt so exhilarated, Ashe being here, it just makes my whole body tense up, in a good way, not like my dad’s presence did.   
She walked around the rubble and tripped over a lose stone on the ground, I caught her before she fell and when I touched her I got zapped by static. My body felt insane, something inside me just jolted out of me and I heard the piano keys and a guitar string from where we were.   
“I’m sorry,” we both said and then we laughed.   
I’m glad that she didn’t mention the instruments, it’ll be hard to explain. I felt a lump in my throat. I can’t tell her that I’m a sorcerer, they said it’s basically a law that I can’t tell a human.   
“Hey Raven,” she said and I noticed that I hadn’t let her go.   
“Oh, yeah, I’m sorry,” I let her go but noticed that her heart was racing in her body.  
“How often do you think about her?” she asked and I knew she meant Gran.  
“Everything here reminds me of her, it’s hard, I don’t want to throw anything away but everywhere I go I’m reminded of her. I just expect her to walk into any given room at any moment and ask me to help her with something. I really miss her.”  
“It must be hard,” she looked at a painting and seemed to freeze. “Revelle,” she said looking the picture Gran painted of a city I never saw in my life before. I loved that painting the most, something about it seemed so real and mesmerizing  
“What?”  
“IS it hard to live here alone? Doesn’t it get lonely” she said.  
“I’m managing,” I shrugged it off and smiled.   
“I should go,” she said suddenly.  
“What? You just got here.”   
“I know, it’s just, my dad, he’s probably wondering where I am. I didn’t tell him.” She said but I didn’t feel convinced. Did I offend her?  
She left in a hurry and I watched her as she left after closing the front gate behind her. Sin jumped up next to me, he growled at me.  
“I don’t know! She just had to go all of a sudden! I don’t get girls.” I sighed and scratched Sin’s ear. Eclipse ran into the kitchen, she tried to stop herself but jumped onto the counter instead and stared at me.  
“Don’t you start with me, you’re a girl too. I didn’t do anything to offend her and she just left, like that.”  
I sat down on the tiles and Eclipse jumped down to rest her head on my lap. Sin sat next to me and put his head on my shoulder.   
I don’t know what to do. I just closed my eyes as the Cheshire cat ticked away the seconds. My hand felt slightly warm, probably Sin’s tail or something. 

I sat in a chair, the room around me looked like a big sphere, I didn’t see the entrance door or any door, only a million seats, each occupied with a shadowy figure. I noticed that my chair seemed to be in the middle of the room, in front of me on a big chair with a tall table sat a very big shadowy figure.  
“You who are called Raven, whose full names we shall not speak for the unknown is not ours to divulge,” the voice spoke but it sounded like a million voices in one, each overlapping the initial main voice.  
“That’s me,” I answered and raised my hand.  
“You are hereby charged with breaking a vow, how do you plead?”  
“Does confused count? Yeah, I’m really confused, where am I?” I looked behind me, the room looked more like a courtroom now that I think about it. The big shadow must be the judge. It’s weird, I don’t feel like I’m dreaming, I feel wide awake, in fact, I know that the last thing I did was sit on the ground with Sin and Eclipse. So where the hell am I now?  
“This is a serious accusation! This is the proudest of all the others; we will not risk our trust in you when you break a vow.”  
“Listen, I haven’t even made any vows and for the record, if I did then it’s done. I keep my word at all times. It’s the one thing I have that I can give. If you knew me then you know I'm telling the truth.  
“Have you anyone to vouch for you?”  
I looked to my right to see a table full of shadows I hadn’t seen before.  
“I can vouch,” a shadow next to me said suddenly and walked to the witness stand


	15. first day on the job

“Ouch!” I said when Sin bit my thumb. I blinked, I’m in the kitchen again. I heard that annoying clock of Gran and saw I only had one hour left before I had to go to the midnight hotel. Where did the time go!  
I jumped into the shower and enjoyed the warm water, I climbed out and got ready. I never discussed what clothes I should wear but if Robert is going to save me from this job then I have nothing to worry about, I’ll be in and out in a jiffy.   
I walked to the kitchen for a last cup of coffee when I saw that someone had already started the kettle. I heard voices in the living room and went to inspect.   
“It’s really strange, it just disappeared, unbelievable.”  
“Hey guys!” I said to Robert and Kristen.  
“Are you going somewhere?” Robert asked me.  
“Yeah, I have to go to the hotel in less than an hour,” I answered him.  
“What are you talking about it’s still…” he stopped when he looked at his watch, he took out his smartphone and frowned. “What happened to the time?”  
“It flies doesn’t it?” I said and went back to the kitchen to make some coffee.  
“So Raven, we decided that you need to get your own spell book. How would you like to go to get one tomorrow?”  
“Sure thing,” I said and asked them how they drank their coffee. I made them a cup each and then went to put on my shoes. They each took another plate of dessert and I tried not to feel too smug about it.   
We didn’t exactly talk, I think the tension about going to see Nina is beginning to get to us. After we finished our coffee the fifteen minutes left made us decide to do it and get it over with. Robert and Kristen drove together and I drove by myself. We reached the midnight hotel, parked and headed to the front desk. The guy taking names let us in without any hassles.   
We walked to the first elevator, I could feel the glares on me, from the people who worked here, like they knew I’m going to be one of them, that I am one of them for now.   
“I’ll wait for you guys here,” Kristen said and Robert gave her a kiss before we went inside the elevator.   
“Only one of us is enough, otherwise Nina might think something of it,” he said as we stood in the elevator.   
When we walked to the next elevator I realized I forgot the amulet, I turned around and felt something around my neck, the amulet.   
As we climbed into the second elevator I tried to remember when I put the amulet on, I couldn’t, I think I forgot it in my pants I wore yesterday but I never consciously put it around my neck for today.   
We walked to Nina’s office, tapped on the doors and they opened, I smelled cutex. The office had been rearranged since yesterday. A fireplace had been built in, the desk still stood by the window with a chair that looked like a throne, a sofa and a few chairs here and there and of course expensive décor pieces. Two big urns with Egyptian symbols stood by both sides of the door.   
“Well, I certainly didn’t expect the fifth captain to be here, what brings you to my hotel Robert Park?” Nina asked as she walked out from behind the throne.   
“I’m here to discuss the matter of this boy’s contract,” Robert said and sounded like a professional lawyer.   
“Is this official business of the guard?” Nina asked while blowing on her nails.  
“It could be,” Robert said like it was a threat.  
“This boy signed a contract out of his own,” she started but I interrupted her.  
“You threatened the life of that girl, you gave me five seconds to sign or else you would have killed her with a sword by running it through her throat,” I corrected Nina.   
“Did you sign the contract to save her life or to stop her from screaming and by doing so, annoy you?”  
She’s got me there.   
“He signed a contract, knowing that he would be employed by me. The conditions as you know by now, captain, do not matter. This is my hotel and who or what I employ by whatever means I choose, is none of your business. You know the rules neither you, or the lieutenant down in the lobby have the authority to touch me, not even the high council has any power against me in my hotel and the way I manage things. He belongs to me, is that clear? Do I need to give you a demonstration of how serious I am?” The room began to shake, all lose object flung themselves around Nina, she pointed her finger at Robert, the doors behind us opened and he suddenly went flying through them before they shut again.   
I wanted to run after Robert but my feet wouldn’t move.   
“He’ll be fine,” Nina said like she was bored.” I just sent him back to the lobby, I hate how the guard think they have the right to talk to me like that. It angers me. Would you like some tea?” she asked.  
“I’d like to move my feet,” I said watching her light a cigarette. She made a gesture with her hand and I could move my feet again.  
“So tell me, what do you specialize in?” She asked and sat down on her throne.   
I looked at her office, it looked like a hurricane made its way through here.   
“I don’t have any specialties.” I said and tried to walk over a wooden box.  
“You don’t focus on mind magic?” she asked surprised.  
“Nope.”  
“Physical magic?”   
“No again.”  
“Nature magic?”   
I shook my head  
“Elemental magic?”  
I shook it again  
“What magic can you do then?” she asked  
I said nothing, after all that is my specialty at the moment.   
“You can’t do any magic?” she looked astounded.   
“Nope, I've never cast a spell in my life.”  
She stared at me for several moments, deliberated something and then closed her eyes as she pulled at a rope behind her.   
The items on the ground began to pick themselves up and the office started to organize itself.   
The two big doors opened and the big Irish man I met in the elevator yesterday greeted me.  
“Connor, this is my new apprentice Simon Ellec Raven, I want you to take him to Sage for training.  
“As you wish Nina. Follow me apprentice.”  
“Oh and Connor, when you’re finished, would you please tend to the animals for me?” she asked and he simply nodded.  
Connor took me to the elevator.  
“You knew didn’t you?” I accused.  
“Yes, I did boy,” he walked into the elevator and I followed.  
“You could have warned me,” I said as the doors closed.   
“Make the best of it boy, you’re stuck here so might as well.” We went one level down and he took the lead. I followed him until we stopped by two big silver doors. He knocked just once when they opened.   
A small Chinese woman with pitch black hair and just as dark eyes stood in the middle of the two doors. All I know about the Chinese is that except for Adam and eve the Chinese made everything else.   
“Who is this?” she asked  
“Nina sent him down, he’s the new apprentice. She probably want you to start training him. He’s all yours.” Connor turned around and left me alone with this woman.  
“What does Nina want me to teach you?” She asked me.  
“Everything since I don’t know anything,” I looked behind me, I thought I heard someone whisper.   
“You have no magical abilities?”  
“No, I don’t.”  
The woman rolled her eyes and then turned around and started walking, she motioned me to follow.   
“My name is Sage, you are Simon yes?”  
“Call me Raven,” I said and she nodded.   
“Take my hand.” She said and I did. The next thing I knew it felt like all the air in my lungs had been plunged out, I couldn’t breathe and what’s more it felt like my body was being pressed together between two walls squeezing closer and closer to each other.   
It stopped and I noticed we weren’t surrounded by walls. Instead I found myself in the middle of a hay field with hot sun and piercing green trees everywhere. A small house stood in the middle of the field, surrounded by jasmine plants.  
“Welcome to my home,” Sage said and led the way to her house. I took of my jacket and enjoyed the sunlight on my body.   
“Are we still in the hotel?” I asked knowing full well the answer.  
“No, I used teleportation to bring us here.”  
“Are we still in the USA?”  
“No and no more questions about where we are,” she said sternly.  
“I don’t have a passport on me,” I joked as we walked into the house. The doors slid sideways and she took me to the living room. There were no chairs, just cushions on the ground, the table pretty much lay flat on the ground. I sat down on a cushion with my legs crossed.   
“Tea?” Sage asked me and gave me a cup before I could answer her.   
She sat in front of me and nodded me to drink it. I took a sip and did my best not to pull a face.   
“You don’t know anything, so I must start fresh with you. I must start from the basics. First, what kind of magic would you want me to teach you once you get the hang of it?” she took a sip while I thought of an answer.   
“I don’t know how to be a good apprentice,” I said,  
“So you want to be good in your position?”   
“Well, I have the job, might as well excel. So yes,” I said feeling sure of myself.  
Sage looked surprised, then held out her hands and motioned me to put mine in hers.   
“There has never been an apprentice who wanted to be good. If you want to be good, then I will teach you to be great. Once you’re a good apprentice, we will find you a specialty. First we start with the basics and most important part of being a sorcerer namely circuit control.”  
I put my hands in hers and instantly felt the part of me that I’m sure is known as the magical circuit.   
“You need to manage this connection willingly. Concentrate on the circuit, hold on to it, it must never leave your conscious mind otherwise it means you’re not in touch with it. We must always be in touch with our magic, we must always be able to have it at hand whenever we need it. I am going to let go of your hand, hold on to that connection you have with your magic for as long as you can, cling to it, will it, whatever you must do just try to maintain it.   
Sage took her hands away and I mentally held on to my circuit, I have to keep this connection even though can feel it slipping. I could barely feel the magic anymore, it was feint and still slipping. I concentrated hard; I don’t want to be one of those guys who struggle. The connection felt so feint, I fought with everything I had in me, I don’t want to lose that connection, in fact…I won’t lose the connection.  
It grew again, the connection, I could feel it like I could feel each controlled breath that I let out of my mouth.   
I opened my eyes and looked at Sage.  
“That went fast, let’s try again shall we, here,” she held out her hands like before and then noticed my grin.  
“I have it, I can feel my circuit. I didn’t lose the connection.”  
“That’s not possible, not on your first try, it takes weeks to maintain the link with the conscious mind.”  
“I can feel it, right there,” I looked at my hands, most of my magic lingered there for some reason.   
“If you really can feel the circuit, you should be able to manipulate it.”  
“How?” I asked.  
“Your circuit runs through your body, upon the minds orders it should be able to reach out and do whatever you want it to do, for now let’s say you want to lift a candle. Concentrate on picking one up with your magical circuit and not your physical hand. Your allowed a hand gesture if you want to. It helps at times.”  
It seems simple enough. I concentrated on one of the six candles on the table. All I have to do is lift it. I did the concentrating and lifting with my circuit part, but I couldn’t get the candle to lift. I felt it again, the connections inside my body, taking over my circuit. When they all linked I lifted my hand, feeling certain I could lift the candle if I wanted to. The candle flung itself from the table and crashed against the wall, it had melted into a puddle on the wood.   
I felt so good about it, I did it!  
“Ok, that’s done, what’s next?”   
Sage looked at the candle and then back at me, I couldn’t place the expression on her face, a mix between surprise and satisfaction.  
“It seems that we’ll be going faster than I thought. Very well, let us proceed.”  
We spent another three hours in there. I had to lift things the whole time and keep that connection with my circuit active all the while. As I did, she spoke about spells and herbs and potions and brewing. A sorcerer has a magical circuit inside them. That magical circuit can build up and become more powerful the more the one it belongs to develops their powers. Most spells require that a sorcerer has some level of magical control in order to cast them. Potions are complex and there are some out there that require magic – incantation - while being brewed, others don’t need any magic and could even be made by humans.   
“As Nina’s apprentice you will need to do certain spells, use magic of a high level. You’re her right hand; if she’s not here then you manage the hotel. First you need to understand the hotel and its design as well as how every person who works for Nina plays a part on the grand design of the hotel.”  
“I’m ready to learn,” I slammed my fist against the table like an arrogant hero. Sage grinned and put her hand on mine.   
An image of a rose garden flashed in my head.   
I pulled my hand back and took a deep breath.   
“Are you alright?” Sage asked me. I nodded. She narrowed her eyes and then nodded.   
“There is a technique amongst magic users; it is very old and extremely handy. It takes some month’s even years to master; this technique will help you understand how the building works. First, you must master it.”  
“Ok, then let’s do it,” I said between breaths. I felt exhausted but I’m not ready to give in yet.   
“First tell me, why do you look around you all the time? Are you expecting someone or hearing something?” she asked.   
“I keep hearing someone whispering around us, it comes and goes,” I answered her.   
“Anything else that comes and goes?” Sage asked.  
“Just a tingling sensation, it usually feels like there’s a bell going off against my skin.”  
“You’ve had this sensation before?”   
I nodded and recalled every time I’ve felt the tingling sensation that I could remember, which went hand in hand with the whispering now that I think about it.  
“Close your eyes,” she said and I obliged.  
The sensation went away and then returned, it disappeared again and then came back.   
“Anything?” she asked me and I nodded.  
“It stopped and then started again, then did the same thing over.   
“You’re feeling it now?” She asked and I nodded. “Impressive,” she stated softly.  
“What is impressive?” I asked.  
“You have a natural ability to sense others of our kind. Every time you’ve had that sensation it must have been around another sorcerer. Are you feeling it now?”   
I realized that I wasn’t, I shook my head.  
“Once your mind understands who the sorcerer is, the power to sense them will negate itself, it is an old form of defense. It makes you aware of our kind. You have a very powerful one.”  
“Really?” I doubted it.  
“From what you tell me, you were able to sense others before even knowing you were a sorcerer. It’s defined, my ability requires very close range and even then I can’t be sure. Your ability literally warns you through the senses, you feel a tingling sensation, and you hear the warnings your power provides you with. It is truly impressive and now that you’re developing your circuit the ability might develop and get stronger.   
“That aside, the technique you spoke about earlier, I want to learn it,” I want to get it over and done with.   
“Perhaps tomorrow, you will need your rest,” she said but I shook my head.  
“Let’s start now.” I said and felt like my hands reached out to her. She let out a breath and nodded.  
“I must warn you, there is a possibility that you might not be able to learn this technique at all.”  
“Why not?”  
“Take my hands,” she said and I did. “This technique requires physical contact. First you must relax your mind for you are about to access another’s. You must use your circuit to reach into the mind of the person you’re touching, once you gain initial access you must be quick, if you linger for a brief moment they will know what you’re doing and can attack you with the open access you grant them. For now, that’s all I leave you with, now try, I will provide you with a memory, you must first access that memory before I start building natural defenses.”  
I closed my eyes; I cleared my mind and imagined my magic reaching into her mind. It’s difficult since I don’t know exactly how to imagine another person’s mind. My magic began reaching dumbly, it was a bit of a struggle, but I pushed it. So far I've been able to do anything Sage asked me to do, I don’t plan on failing now. I pushed harder against my magic. I got a sudden flash of a man whose eyes were ripped out of their sockets. I experienced sudden pain and let go of Sage’s hands and fell with my back against the ground. It felt like I just ran a marathon or something. My body was wet with sweat. I wiped my face and looked at my hand, I saw blood.  
“Your nose is bleeding,” she said.  
“I’ve noticed,” I said and got tissue.  
“This changes things.”  
“Why?”  
“When you push your magic further than it can actually go, it tends to push back. Nosebleeds are the first sign, then your eyes will start bleeding and your ears and your body will start jerking, until your unconscious and possibly in a coma. Years ago it was standard practice to force young training sorcerers to push themselves past their limit, some of them have still not woken up.”  
“That’s horrible,” I said as I sat up, wiping the blood from my nose.   
“When you get older and stronger, you no longer get them, your body and magic are so synchronized that the nosebleeds become a thing of the past. You who are a beginner, still get the bleeds.”  
“So the more I practice the less often I’ll get the nosebleeds?”  
“Eventually you’re conscious mind tends to preserve the body against pain or damage and won’t allow you to push past your limits. Right now you’ve reached your limit, it’ll only be dangerous for you to continue. Again you’ve surprised me seeing that you’ve lasted this long. We can continue your training tomorrow. For now, I’m taking you back to Nina’s hotel and you will do whatever she asked of you as her apprentice.” Sage got up to lock the back door. I looked at the candles on the table, a few of them were lit. It annoyed me slightly that all of them weren’t on or blown out. I took a breath to blow them out when a thought came to me. I held my breath and felt those connections inside link suddenly, I looked at the unlit candles, the idea I had in mind seemed impossible but yet at the same time possible. I blew on the candles and the ones that were unlit, took flame an all the candles on the table burned in harmony together. I sat back, feeling the connected parts of my circuit sever themselves until I only felt the basic circuit linked with my mind.   
Sage walked into the room, she gave the candles a glance and then closed the windows.   
“Where’s your unit?” she asked and held out her hand.  
“I don’t have one yet, I still haven’t summoned it or whatever,” I said.  
“Then how did you light those candles?”   
“Magic, I just blew on them.” I said and noticed how she seemed to be slightly unconvinced. Suddenly all the air got yanked out of my lungs and it felt like being pressed between two opposing forces. When I got my breath again we stood back in the room at the midnight hotel.  
“What just happened?” I asked gasping for breath.  
“Teleportation, it takes some getting use to,” Sage said and let my hand go. I don’t even remember her taking it in the first place.   
“Nina will probably be in her office, do not keep her waiting any longer. I will see you tomorrow,” she closed the doors and I turned for the elevator.   
“You’re finally back I see,” Nina said while going through some papers, she didn’t even look up, in fact she sounded pretty bored.   
“You will see on that desk over there lies all the schedules and bookings, go through them and make sure everything is in order, since Vern did them last I can be sure that they aren’t and I haven’t got any time lately. When you find something wrong, tell me and fix it. That is all, continue.”  
I guess since this is my job, I don’t really have much of a say in the matter. I sat down by the desk and started going through everything.   
“So is this ok?” I asked two hours later after I sorted out everything, Vern is a real idiot, in fact he is the definition of an idiot, he’s the reason the word idiot exists.   
Nina went through every page, she didn’t say anything which I suppose can be good or bad. I looked around her office again, I don’t think I've known anyone to have an office this big, it feels more like a home than an office, especially with the fireplace. I looked at one of the paintings, or rather at what was next to it. A big circle with weird shapes spread throughout it. The shapes moved and the symbols in the center moved too.  
“Disc magic,” Nina said softly.  
“What?”   
“That symbol up there, it’s called disc magic, very old kind of magic, very hard to use but very handy. That symbol keeps everything I put on the wall stick like cement. Only when I remove the disc will I be able to take anything from the wall. The one above us protects me from anyone who tries to attack me, it took me two years to cast it.”  
I didn’t see any other symbols around, I guess there are only two in her office.   
“About the books, I’m going to have to get you new ones, Vern left us with a mess, I can see you know what you’re doing so go to the front desk and tell them what they need to do to fix it. You can go home then, when you come in tomorrow there will be a uniform, I expect to see you in it when you walk into my office. Twelve o clock, no excuses.”  
I nodded and left the room. I made my way to the front desk and told them what they had to do and which clients they needed to call a.s.a.p.  
I drove home and when I got inside I collapsed on my bed in the second living room which I’m officially calling my room now..   
Sin and eclipse took their normal spots, sin by my feet and eclipse with her head on my chest. I’m not tired but drained. I concentrated on my circuit, I still have it linked with my mind, I didn't pay attention when I drove home but I'm sure it was there in my head. I don’t know much about controlling a circuit, I just know mine feels weird. For lack of a better word I guess it feels drained. I looked at the roof, I imagined that protection symbol on Nina’s office roof. I want one of those in my house in every room.   
I held my hands out like I could touch the ceiling. I concentrated and imagined touching the ceiling with magic. Those connections from before began forming, I don’t think it’s normal for a magical circuit to feel like its connecting, I’ll ask Sage about it. The connections were made and my circuit felt different, stronger and not drained anymore.   
I thought about Will, I haven’t talked to him in ages, it feels like ages.  
Its only yesterday but it feels like a lifetime ago that I didn’t think much about magic. I’m not allowed to tell Will at all about this. I wish I could just see him and blurt it all out. The ceiling looked weird, like it was melting, but not melting to burn, simply melting away to reveal a different image. My body felt like it wasn’t there. The entire room disappeared and I felt like I didn’t exist, like my place in the world was gone. The sensation lifted and I had changed location, instead of looking up I looked down instead. Will sat with his mother and his brother, they were watching a show on TV. His mom looked around, like she heard a door or something.  
“What’s wrong?” William mocked her slightly.  
“I thought I heard a cat or something,” she said and turned around completely in her seat. ”it’s probably ginger.”   
I began to fall down but my existence in the world was once again removed and I no longer fell down but up and then very suddenly down again. I found myself on my bed again, Sin and Eclipse sat back, like I had moved.   
What just happened to me? Did I teleport like Sage did earlier? It can’t be, when Sage teleported us, it felt different, like the air was being forced out of my lungs and like two thick walls were pushing together against me. This felt different, familiar somehow, I can’t recall when I’ve felt it before.   
I lay on my back and looked back at the ceiling, I noticed two burn marks that weren’t there before. Did I do that? At the rate I’m going there won’t be a house left by the end of the week. The stairs now this, note to self, avoid a wrecking ball.   
My phone vibrated in my pocket.  
“Hey Raven!”   
“Jason?’   
“How are you, how was the midnight hotel?”   
“I think it went ok, I only had a five hour work day or so, why are you phoning me?”   
“Couldn’t phone you while you were in the midnight hotel, magical interference with technology or something like that. Are you still ok for a visit?”  
“Yeah, sure, come on over.”  
“Great,” he said and hung up. It’s not Will but beggars can’t be choosers.   
I unlocked the front gate and noticed a layer of dust on the table next to the coat closet. I took one of the keys from the rail and walked to the garage. Both animals accompanied me; I pressed the button and waited for the doors to open. There are seven garage doors and each has its own automatic button. There is a door that goes through each separate garage and luckily it utilizes the same key. I walked into my car’s garage and unlocked the door and went to the neighboring garage. Two sports motorbikes patiently stood there waiting to be ridden, behind them the old classic Harley Davidson. I walked to the door and unlocked it to go to the most important car of all of Gran’s vehicles. The Shelby GT 500. Gran had a special place in her heart for this vehicle. I’m so scared I have an accident with it if I take her outside. Especially now with the snow and everything. Once summer kicks in, I plan on getting behind her and taking her for a spin to get the rust off.   
I heard the front gate and ran to meet Jason halfway there. I remembered to close the automatic doors before I was out of the sensors range.   
Sin tackled Jason to the ground and pressed his paw against Jason’s mouth.  
“Sin, no, don’t suffocate him,” I scolded and Sin removed his paw.   
I took Jason inside and locked the door.   
“So what was it like to work for Nina?” Jason asked before he put his coat away.   
“It’s not that bad, she made me train with one of her employees to get the hang of my magical circuit.”  
“How did you do?” He asked.  
“I got a nose bleed,” I announced proudly.  
“Wow, you were really trying hard then. I haven’t had one in ages, I can’t even remember the last time I had one.”  
“Well yeah, other than that, it’s not that different from doing normal hotel work. I just had to fix all the mistakes the guy before me made. It’s a real mess.”  
“So what did you learn? Can you do spells yet?”  
“I can only do this,” I said and connected with my circuit. I imagined taking off Jason’s coat and hanging it over the coat rail. His coat fell on the ground but no matter how hard I tried I couldn’t get it to lift itself from the ground.  
“Whoa, Raven, that’s enough, you’re getting another nosebleed. Here,” he handed me a tissue.   
I wiped my nose until the blood stopped.   
“Your circuit must be fried, I suggest you let it recharge first before you try more magic.” He picked up his coat and put it away in the closet. I looked at the coat rail; I don’t understand why Gran needs to have a closet and a rail for coats. I'm getting rid of the rail.   
“I only learned how to connect the circuit with my mind and to move objects with my magic. Nothing too extensive,” I said as we walked to the kitchen where I'm more than willing to bet Jason is going to get some dessert.   
“This kitchen is huge,” he said as we walked in.  
“I’ve been here so many times it’s always felt like home to be honest. Only difference is now I own it.” I own more property but that remains my business until I decide otherwise.   
“You can turn one of the rooms into a training room and a place to practice certain kind of magic.” Jason sat down and looked at the marble counter, he pressed his hand against it. I only now noticed the house felt severely colder.   
“Not really, I already have a place where I can train and practice.” I thought about the cave, it’s already pretty well prepared to be honest.   
“You do?”  
I told him about the cave and everything inside it. He looked intrigued the more I said.  
“I really want to see it,” he said excited.   
“Want to go now?” I asked.  
“It’s almost ten, aren’t you tired?” he asked.  
“Not really, it’ll be a while before I get tired. If its ok with you, I mean don’t you have a curfew or something?”  
“Nope, its weekend, come on, I’ll drive.” He said and we left the house and got in his car.  
We reached the cave a few minutes later, I turned on the lights in the first chamber, Jason whistled behind me.  
“This is amazing,” he said slowly and pointed at the beams. “You practice on those up there without any suspension?”  
I nodded, I walked around the chamber, I didn’t see any dust, nothing like that down here. I don’t think dust gathers in a cave, at least not in this one.   
“This is the ideal place to train in; everything you need is in here.” He picked up a bow and arrow and aimed at the target, he missed the center by four rings.   
“Archery isn’t my specialty,” he shrugged.  
“What is your specialty then?” I asked curious.  
“With my unit I’m a close combat fighter, with my magic it mainly goes from mid- to long range.” He made a gesture with his hand and one of the stalagmites began freezing up.  
“That’s impressive,” I said as I watched the layer of ice build until it suddenly stopped.   
“It’s nothing, very basic; I still can’t believe you go up those beams without any support.”  
“I can show you,” I said finally getting that he was hinting.  
I climbed up to the top and took a deep breath; I took a first step on the beam, the most nerve wrecking moment of the entire beam exercise. I took the next step, my body relaxed, everything still felt the same, and I felt at ease again. I casually walked on the beam, my balance in perfect harmony with my mind, I did one back flip and then climbed down as Jason applauded me, though I'm not sure if it was a mock applaud or a genuine one.   
“I can’t do that; I’d fall the moment I tried walking.”   
I asked Jason to show me what it looks like to use magic.   
“You’re not at the level to do this stuff yet, so don’t try it. I’m at a high level. Here goes.”  
He held out his hand and a bridge of ice manifested over my balancing beam. Snow began to fall from beneath the bridge and gathered on the ground to form a circle of snowmen. In the middle of the snowmen an ice sculpture of an angel formed from the last flakes of snow. The angel turned her head to me and her arm waved at me before the whole feature exploded into a snowy spectacle. I closed my eyes and felt the flakes of frozen water fall on my face and melt with my body heat.


	16. first magical acheivment

Jason left at twelve; I fell asleep at two and woke up at five. I've been reading every reference book I could find in Gran’s library about magic that I could find since I woke. I had a listing of medieval witchcraft and herbs witches were known to use in their brewing. It’s all really interesting but none of these books have spells in them or anything, just tales and historical facts about the origin of sorcery. All of them agree that merlin’s mother slept with a demon and from there stemmed the idea of wizards and witches are referred to women who use herbs and such. I can Google half the stuff here. I picked up the book titled: “Legends of old.” I paged to the index to find it empty. I paged through it and found it void of any text or pictures except for a small entry in the middle.  
“Revealious Max secre,” I read the entry out loud and hoped something might happen. After another minute I closed the book and threw it on the pile next to sin.   
I got bored by eight and decided on breakfast; I walked to the kitchen and thought about how Gran would scold me for walking barefoot in the house. Each tile felt cold against my skin but I hate slippers and won’t wear them. I ate some porridge while considering the inventory of the pantry. At some point I’m going to have to go shopping for groceries, I can already see myself walking out of the store with a trolley full of chocolate chip cookies.   
I walked back to Gran’s…my library and took note of one of Gran’s paintings. She painted it shortly after I turned ten. The bridge was very detailed, the crystal clear blue water beneath it seemed almost real the longer you looked, the thing I loved about this picture the most was the figure in the middle of the bridge. He stood on the railing of the bridge, his clothes were painted windblown although the trees in the picture were clearly unaffected. The sky looked unsettled. I always looked at this picture for some or other reason; I appreciate art like I appreciate fine music and wine, though I normally appreciated all three of them with Gran around. I started back to the library feeling a little morbid.   
Eclipse lay on the table on top of all my books. Her tail rested beneath her paw, she was looking at Sin who was in turn chasing his own. The look she gave him, like getting her tail was the easiest task in the history of the world made me smile. Sin finally caught his tail, with his teeth and I suppose the growl he gave was one of pain. It makes sense.   
I wonder what it’s like to have a tail. Cats use it for balance, I have good balance without one, I wonder what it would be like with a tail, I’ll never have to worry about falling again in my life.   
I played some music to rid the house of the creepy feeling it emanated, it also made me feel more relaxed. I went to Gran’s art room seeing that I don’t plan on forcing eclipse from my books. I took a new sheet and put it on the easel.   
My preferred medium is the pencil and I use paper, I don’t like using paint or oil pastels like Gran does. I don’t have the skill to make anything other than pencil look convincing. I looked at the empty page and bit on the tip of the pencil. I started a line without knowing what I would make of it, I made a slight curve and continued.   
The eyes were going to be a different shade of grey and maybe a tad touch of blue. I went to the cupboard to get another pencil, I opened the door and took out the pencil case. I somehow managed to knock over one of Gran’s paint cans and heard it fall behind the shelf, I listened as it rolled and rolled and rolled until it sounded like it stopped against a wall.   
I carefully pulled the shelf sideways and saw the huge space behind the shelf for the very first time. I found a light switch and as the light went on I saw more of her paintings. I walked past the paint can and looked at all the paintings.   
They were truly magnificent, slightly dark for her general style, but extremely lifelike. They’re all amazing, I noticed in the back against the wall that one painting was completely covered with a sheet. I went to it and pulled of the sheet and stood there looking at the painting that made chills run down my spine.   
It depicted a man standing in the dark, beneath his feet there were women, all of them dead, their clothes were torn from their body and the expression on their deceased faces made me feel sick. He held the hand of one of his victims as she lay; he looked as pale as his victims. He wore a cloak that hung loosely over his shoulder. His clothes appeared to be smeared in dark blood that looked different from the blood that the women had on their clothes. I noticed that the dark blood dripping from his hand ran a line over each of his victims. He didn’t look to be a very big guy, in fact it wasn’t for the muscles clearly depicted with pencil then he would be a rather scrawny guy, tall but scrawny. His hair was short black but greying. He had a thin pointy nose and very thin lips that were drawn in a sneer that gave him age lines that ran to his eyes, scary eyes, so blue that they looked white, slightly demented. I didn't like looking at the picture. I covered it up again and walked out of the concealed room. Why would Gran draw something so disturbing? I looked at the picture I had drawn, it’s far from perfect, I can never really get her right on paper like she is in real life. Looking at her made me feel a little les disturbed from the picture in that room. I heard Gran’s kitchen clock and automatically looked at my watch. Sketching really makes time fly by; I have to be at the midnight hotel in twenty minutes. I might as well go now seeing that I have nothing better to do. 

APPRENTICE SIMON ELLEC RAVEN’S PARKING AREA: STAY OUT OR ELSE. 

I parked in that spot and walked to the entrance, I had the amulet around my neck and my ring on my index finger.   
“Welcome apprentice” the guy at the front door said and smiled.  
“It’s Raven, how are you today?” I asked.  
“Jeffrey and I am the same as every day, alive. I see you didn’t bring the fifth captain today, a wise decision as I have instructions to keep him outside.”  
“You lost me at fifth captain,” I frowned at him.  
“I am of course referring to Captain Robert Park, the gentleman who accompanied you here yesterday and was forcefully removed.   
“Oh, yeah, I think he got the message,” I said as I walked in. I didn’t know that Robert is a captain; I wonder what that means though. He should have at least mentioned it.  
I walked by the front desk when the girl who worked there stopped me. She handed me a couple of files and asked I take them up to Nina to be signed. I got in the elevator and went up, climbed out, got into the second elevator and went to the second top floor. I noticed the uniform on a hanger and sighed. I stopped the elevator and changed into my new clothes. I continued the elevator when I finally had the shoes on and then walked to Nina’s office. I knocked on the door and then walked inside.   
Connor and Nina were discussing something. He looked at me and I saw a wooden staff in his hands, he nodded at me and I returned the gesture.   
“I thought that we could use these,” Nina said and pointed at the staff.  
“For what you’re planning, how can these be of any use?” he asked and I heard the confusion in his voice.  
“Honestly, aren’t you an alchemist?” she rolled her green eyes at him.  
“I thought I’m your boiler?” he remarked. Nina tilted her head at him and he took a deep breath.   
“Perhaps iron or silver, silver will be more manageable,” she said and he nodded. He ran his hand up the staff and then held on tight to the staff, I saw his knuckles go white and then relax. I watched as the staff began to change color. It went from brown to grey and then silver. When the staff – now silver – completed its transformation he lifted it and grunted.   
“I’ll get to work on it right away,” then he lowered the staff. “About the new addition, I’m having trouble managing it, I’ll need a binding.”  
Nina nodded and Connor turned around, looked at the files in my hands, grinned, nodded and left.   
“What was that about?” I asked.  
“None of your concern. What are those?” Nina glared at the files in my hand.   
“The front desk asked me to_”  
“The front desk asks you nothing Mr. Raven. You are my apprentice, nobody else’s, the pecking order in my hotel go as thus: The hotel, me, my apprentice, the five, the guests, those who work for the five, the plants, the dirt, the maggots in the dirt and then anyone else who works for me. You got that?” she scowled.   
“I only take orders from you,” I answered.  
“Everyone else takes orders from you. Never again do you take orders, they may request a favor for you to take care of in matters that might affect the hotel, but you have the authority to tell them to take care of it themselves if you feel that it’s beneath you and quite frankly anything that I do not tell you to do is beneath you. I don’t want to have this conversation with you again, are we clear on this?  
“Yeah, sure, I get it. Be an asshole?”  
“Watch you language and yes.” She took the files from me and scanned them. She peered up at me and then back to her papers. I looked around and saw a full size mirror that I don’t remember from last time, I suppose it’s new. I saw myself in the uniform, its basic grey and doesn’t shimmer or anything, there’s an eastern style to it. It looks like a robe with big sleeves that was cut short a several inches beneath the waistline; I wore dark grey knee length shorts and a shirt beneath the cloak. The belt was black and the only color oddity except for the shoes that looked different from when I put them on. The shoes were up to my ankles and the shoelaces that I definitely don’t remember were light grey as opposed to the pitch-black shoes I had on.   
“Shouldn’t you be going to Sage or are you gawking at the mirror out of habit?” Nina said without glancing up from the papers.   
I don’t need telling twice. I went to Sage.   
Sage teleported us back to her house and took us to the living room where two glasses of water stood on the table.   
“Today we continue yesterday’s training, the technique to obtain information. Are you ready?”  
“Connor turned a wooden staff into a silver one. How did he do it?” I asked instead.  
“Alchemy is the craft where you use potions, chemicals and magic separately or together to change a substance into another, in this case, wood to silver. Connor has an aptitude for alchemy so it’s only natural that he excels in it.”  
“What do you excel in?” I asked her.   
“Old magic, the magic that the generations of current no longer care to practice. They don’t know how powerful the magic is, it’s their mistake for underestimating it, I suppose.”  
“Does that include disc magic?” I asked her.  
“It does, in fact I am a disc user as Connor is an alchemist.”  
“I want to learn that magic, disc magic. Would you teach me that magic when you think I’m ready?”  
She smiled as she nodded.  
“It’ll be hard, disc magic requires very fine circuit control and power, at your current level you won’t be able to create the basic of discs. Don’t be concerned about it, we will work to get you there. For now, let us continue where we left of, Nina agreed that I can have you for three hours every day and on weekends four hours. This is until you get better control and have more circuit power. Let us continue now.”  
We sat down at the table, none of the candles were lit and I tried to remember what we did yesterday. I have to reach into her mind and get information, that’s what we did.   
“Have some water, it is good for your health.”  
I did and scowled at her the whole time.   
“I find that it helps with magic, when you’re calm or relaxed it helps to some extent.” I tried to understand how hot water could possibly relax me, give me alcohol instead.  
She held her hands out and I took them. I concentrated on my circuit, I found it easier to get the whole enter the mind thing, my circuit automatically knew where to go, like it remembered what to do by itself. I let go of Sage’s hands.  
“Does magic learn?” I asked.  
“Your mind learns, your mind and magic are linked, so magic learns, magic becomes like its own body part independent from your physical body.”  
I took her hands, my magic reached out and an image flashed in my mind making me yank my hands out of hers.  
“When you use this technique, you cannot give any indication that you have, if somebody guesses what you’ve done the consequences might be severe, do it again.  
We did it over and over for two hours, then Sage stopped.  
“You can do it, now we go to the next level. Thus far I’ve presented you with a memory but now you must reach for the information,” she finished. I nodded and reached out for her hands but she pulled them back.   
“I must warn you, this ability only has two levels. The first allows you access to the present memory, this next level reaches into the mind and duplicates memories into your own mind, you might see things that you didn’t intend to see or learn.”  
“Ok, let’s do it.”  
“There is one more thing I must warn you about this technique. In magic there are powers that are passive, that don’t require your mind to use them. Other powers are active and require mental activation. This technique is dangerous because it’s becomes both. Once you complete it, you can intentionally enter another’s mind, on the flip side, it might activate itself.”  
I deliberated what she said. It is one thing to intentionally do something but a completely different concept if I’m not in control.   
“Why did you not warn me before we started?”  
“In less than a day you have achieved what it takes most of our kind years to master. Your progression is astounding and frightening. I would have warned you earlier had I known how fast your progress would be. It is up to you to continue this training.”  
I ran my hand through my hair and made a decision.  
“Ok, let’s continue, but were going to have to work on my reaction when I've finished the second stage.”  
She nodded and put her hands on the table again.  
“Once you finish the second stage, the time it takes you to enter the mind and leave again will be almost instantaneous. A simple handshake is more than enough time, as long as you do not react.   
The second stage proved to be harder than the first. I tried to find the memory but others just kept on popping up all around in my head, I stumbled on one where Sage went to the cafeteria for tea. I pulled back and took a breath.  
“That will be all for today, now we go back to the midnight hotel.”  
“What are you talking about? We still have,” I looked at my watch. “Five minutes left? How is that possible?”  
“When you complete the second stage, its fast, on the other hand learning it takes time lost to the user while trying to manage it. Magic has a price sometimes unanticipated.”  
We returned to the hotel and I went to Nina.   
She gave me brand new books and instructed me to neatly redo her books than to struggle with the mess Vern left behind. It took me an hour but I finished it and closed the books.  
“When you come in to work, the front desk will give you a blue folder, it is guest listings. My hotel has a very big waiting queue. The file you receive is a list of approved guests. You will place them and give the new booking details to the front desk. You have the right to deny anyone on that list and have the front desk inform the guests that they are denied.   
So every day when you leave you hand in your books, in the mornings you collect the book and blue file,” Nina closed the book she had open and took her glasses of to look at me.   
She began explaining.  
The midnight hotel has five main divisions run by Nina’s five most important – second only to me, the apprentice – employees, each a head of one of the five divisions.  
The first and most important is Reg, the head of the labor division.  
His men handle hard labor work and are usually divided into the other divisions mainly the second and third. His men are flexible because they spend a year in training with him in order to handle any task presented to them should the situation require it. He’s a bit of a sexist, most of his workers are strong young men who can learn what they have to in the required time. Their uniform color, blue.   
Second is Connor, the boiler man.   
His people feed magic into the midnight hotel and construct the magic for each level. They do it by means of using fire and transferring the heat into energy by using two of my discs. Without the boiler division, the midnight hotel would not be able to run most of its activities or electrical features.   
His division wears red.  
The third Thomas runs the carpenter division.  
Any damage to the hotel or any of its levels requires specific skills to repair and it is his division that repairs these damages. As there are five hundred and one levels in total, his division are always at work.  
Their uniform color is yellow.   
Fourth is derek, head of décor, food and entertainment.   
His is the only division with a varied uniform color.   
Food wears white and revolves around one of the ten restaurants presented in the hotel.  
Entertainment has ten levels also, this includes three levels for casino and gambling. Two swimming pool levels, two levels of private rooms. Three levels for children day and night care. Then entertainment has the whole outside that covers recreational items, such as hiking a fake mountain or climbing it. several passageways should one like to take a love walk with one’s other half.   
Décor is required on every level and since it’s dependent on what the level requirement is, they probably have the most change that they need to make. There are only several actual people in employment in décor and they wear basic black uniform.   
The last division belongs to Lydia, head cleaning.   
Her staff wears black and white. They maintain level cleaning, are trained in basic first aid magic and each cleaner in the division must first go through one year of training in potion brewing.  
In addition there are people from Lydia’s division who are placed around the midnight hotel in varied positions, such as the ones who work at the front desk.   
Each division has several workers who are spread throughout the hotel to handle other tasks not mainly part of the division.   
These divisions are fundamental for the midnight hotel, without them, the midnight hotel wont be able to run smoothly. Nina cannot manage everything herself and since the hotel is a doorway between dimensions, it is a key factor in the magical community. Nina manages the guests and deals with the finances.   
The apprentice – me – is required to be able to handle each and every position in the midnight hotel. Mine is the only uniform that is grey, it is to represent my position above every other division. If Nina is not present, her work falls to me. If a member of the five were to die, I am expected to fulfil that role.   
“I won’t need you for the rest of the day, though, after you’ve changed I need you to do something for me before you hand in your books and uniform when you leave.   
I waited in anticipation.  
“Go to the cafeteria on the tenth level and tell the head chef to bring me my order at five. Then you may leave. That is all.”  
I felt slightly insulted but nonetheless I followed her instructions. I knew where the cafeteria was because of my training with Sage.   
I came at a bad time, it looked like everyone who worked here was on lunch. I walked to the main chef and gave him Nina’s instructions, he started swearing in French and I just ignored what he said.   
As I turned to leave a big sweaty man stood in my way, his hair was cropped short and now there were little stubs on his head, his black beard pointed at his shoulder bone.  
“So you’re the new apprentice. Not much are you?” he said and the whole cafeteria laughed. I nodded while I fidgeted with the zipper on my jacket.   
“I am the new apprentice and I have to go so please excuse me.” I turned to the door but found it blocked by a couple guys.   
“Reginald be nice,” a woman said and I turned around to see who but I couldn’t be sure who it was.  
“I don’t think so. Tell me boy, do you think you’re above us?” he asked.   
“According to the pecking order,” I stated but he cracked his knuckles.   
“How about I show you my pecking order, I will start with your face then finish with your legs.   
“I don’t even know who you are, this is just a waste of time. I tried the door again but one of the guys who blocked me tried to push me back, I grabbed his wrist and carefully pressed on the right spot to make him wither to the ground in pain.   
“I don’t want any trouble,” I said and turned to the guy named Reginald.  
“Too late for that boy. I’ll have to defend that one’s integrity.”  
“I don’t want to fight,” I said again. “There’s no point in fighting without a cause.”  
“Tell you what, if you can beat me in a fight then everyone here will never give you any hassles, if you lose, then we treat you like we treat every apprentice when they lose against me, without mercy. How’s that for a cause?”  
“I don’t want to fight you, let me leave. I apologize for hurting him.”  
“So the new apprentice is a coward!” Reginald yelled out loud and everyone made a noise mocking me.  
I counted to ten in my head.   
“Fight me you little coward,” Reginald said and I shook my head.   
“Leave him then if he doesn’t want to,” a woman with long brown hair said behind him, it was the same woman who spoke earlier.   
“I want a fight and this coward will either be beaten to a pulp or just plainly beaten. He thinks he’s the highest ranking of us all so let’s see if he deserves to be called as such.”  
Everyone cheered in agreement.  
My way was still blocked and I don’t want to hurt someone else. I tried to see a different door; all of them were already blocked. The vents were too high up for me to reach.   
“Let me be, I don’t want any trouble,” I tried and turned to the door again hoping some common sense would grant me freedom.  
“What a self-righteous little brat, he thinks he’s better than us. He has no right to wear that uniform or have anything from us!”  
You have no right to wear anything of hers. How dare you think that you deserve any keepsakes!   
I took of my jacket and threw it over a chair close by. I turned around to look Reginald in the eyes.   
“Have it your way then.”  
Everyone in the cafeteria jumped up and stood with their backs against the walls. Nobody cheered for me.   
“I’m going to beat you up apprentice, how do you want me to rearrange your face?”  
I didn’t say anything. He pointed his finger at me and a chair lifted and threw itself at me.   
“How about we make this fair,” I said and carefully prepared my words.  
“Fair how?” he asked.  
“As I see it, the odds are unbalanced. How about we don’t use magic, make it old school. I won’t use all my magic against you and you don’t use the little bit of magic you know against me,” I watched his face go red.  
“The little bit that I know?” he held out his hands and all the chairs and tables lifted and spun around him. They began to vibrate and then came apart. “Incendia!” he said and the pieces caught fire.   
“That’s the best you can do?” I kept my cool even thought I wanted nothing more than to freak out at how cool this is. He flung a piece of burning chair at me, I couldn’t get out of the way in time and raised my hand in front of my face and took the impact of the chair without reacting to the pain.   
“He can’t even dodge,” Reginald said but then frowned. “Your arm isn’t even burned? What kind of magic are you using,” he seemed unnerved.   
“I’m Nina’s apprentice, I’m nothing like Vernan. So to make it fair, let’s not do magic just to avoid a humiliating defeat. Let’s do it old school, unless you’re scared?”   
“No magic at all?” he enquired as all the tables and chairs reassembled themselves.  
“Like I said, it wouldn’t be fair. So what do you say? No magic including units.”  
“Very well, no magic.”   
He charged at me with a warrior yell. I ducked out of the way and heard him crash into something behind me. I turned around and gawped, he held a table in one hand and threw it at me like he was holding a small plate. My hand felt warm and tingled. Time seemed momentarily slower, I held my hand out to grab the table and time sped up to normal again. I caught the table and climbed on it, jumped up against a wall and as I landed I kicked a chair at Reginald.   
He caught the chair with his hand and crushed it with his strength.   
He took a deep breath and started walking to me with slow deliberation. He lunched at me and I moved sideways to avoid him, he managed to grab me with his hand and spun me around, lifted me and then slammed me against the wooden floor of the cafeteria. He let me go and I heard everyone cheering. He raised his hands like he won a fight. I got up and silence followed.   
“I didn’t expect you to get up after that,” Reginald said.   
“I’ve had worse,” I said and spat rubble out of my mouth.   
He tried to punch me but I grabbed his arm and used his body as a support grip. I wrapped both my arms around his and then used my legs against his body to throw him of balance. Reginald is a very big man and clearly strong. Normal methods won’t work, I’m not strong enough so I have to use whatever means I can to access the necessary weight I would use in a physically even match.   
Reginald fell forward and I tried to punch him in the stomach, I might as well have struck a brick well. I shook my hand and concentrated on everything I knew about the human body. I know it has weak points, soft spots that hurt but this guy is like a walking piece of brick, but I might as well try. He tried to grab me but I danced around his hands, I’m faster than he is, he slammed his fists against the floor and the wood pieces came lose, he took a board and swung it at me. I moved out of the way and finally an idea hit me. I took a chair and threw it at him, as he knocked it off with the wood board I slid between his legs, rose up behind him and wrapped my arms around his neck and held on as tight as I could. He tried to reach for me but I maneuvered my hand to squeeze a shoulder muscle and felt his body tense to the pain. I squeezed harder and he couldn’t stand. He let himself fall on his back, on me but I didn't relax my grip. He got up again and fell back on the ground another time. I wrapped my legs around his waist and squeezed as much air out as I could. The harder I make it for him to breath, the closer I get to ending this.  
He began to feel limp so I unwrapped my legs from his waist and forced him on his knees.   
“Give up,” I whispered in his ear. “I don’t want you to pass out, so just give up.”  
“You won’t let it go that far,” he said and I tightened my grip on his neck.  
“You’re probably seeing little dots in your vision right about now. Your body wants to get air into your system, it also wants the pain to stop. It only takes one slam against your throat and I can walk away and you will still be trying to breath, but you’ll die instead,” I warned him and I could feel his heart pounding. He raised both his hands.  
“I yield,” he said and I let go. He coughed as he took his breaths. I turned around to walk out and the two still in my way moved before I could say anything.  
“Wait boy!” Reginald said behind me.   
I turned around.   
“Smart boy, I’d have hated so see what you did with magic.”  
“I would have lost,” I admitted.  
“What?”   
“The boy can’t use magic; never even cast a spell in his life. He’s been training with Sage since he started working for the witch,” Connor said from the back.  
“You said that you wouldn’t use all your magic against me! You said that you would make it even, balanced, you made it sound like you knew more magic than I did!” Reginald yelled at me outraged.  
“All the magic I know is the equivalent of half a technique, if you interpreted it wrong then it’s not my fault.”  
“You knew, you played me,” Reginald said and looked to collapse down in a seat. “I fell for it hook line and sinker, unbelievable.”  
“Yes you did,” I looked around and everyone seemed shocked beyond speech.  
“Now listen to me everyone here. This boy, Simon Ellec Raven, he beat me fair and square in a match so therefore you remember what I said earlier: No hassles or else I will hassle you. Understood , good. Now all who work beneath me, the shows over now get back to work you lazy bastards. Have a good day apprentice Raven, see you tomorrow at five,” he said and walked off after the group of workers wearing dark blue.   
“Well done,” the woman with long brown hair said to me.  
“What did I do?” I asked her.  
“Every apprentice must fight him at some point; none have ever succeeded in beating him.”  
“I don’t see why fighting him is such an extremely big deal,” I watched as the cafeteria emptied.  
“He’s the laborer,” she said lightly.  
“The first of the five?”   
“Yes, Connor is the second_”  
“The boiler man.”   
“I’m Lydia, the head of the cleaning, the fifth of the five. You already know that in the pecking order we are right beneath you, it’s standard practice to see the difference between the apprentice and us. You have a lot of potential and have earned Reginald’s respect, Connor seemed fond of you already and I appreciated your decision to refuse a fight. You already have three of us on your side and I have no doubt that Derek will be overly fond of you. That means that everybody will know to obey you as they should. With respect in this building comes authority. Enjoy the rest of your day and we will see you tomorrow. Maybe you can start ordering us around.”


	17. one week later

Today marks the first week of employment since I signed a contract with Nina. I’m still not completely sure how to do my job, all the training with Sage feels like it’s at a standstill. Time goes by so fast while I try to manage this second stage of the stupid technique. We’re not making any progress and that’s progressively pissing me off.   
Nina has been short tempered the entire time; I think she’s annoyed with my inability to learn a stupid technique and she makes me do small mundane things for her that aren’t magical or supernatural.  
I have to tend to the books, get food for her, file complaints that she wants me to read and do pay slips for the laborer since his is the only division that gets weekly payment.   
Nina took in two new employees this week, females automatically get sent to the cleaners division or to the décor and food division and males end up either at the laborer, carpenter or boiler. I haven’t met any of the other five yet, I’m only acquainted with Lydia, Connor and Reginald. I know their names at least. I haven’t so much as spoken to any of them since that day with Reginald.   
“Concentrate,” Sage said sternly and squeezed my hand.  
“I’m trying ok, I thought this would be easier,” I complained.   
“It’s not supposed to be easier, the first stage was never meant to be passed within a day. If you want to do the right job you will do what I tell you to do and right now I’m telling you to focus.”  
I tried to force myself into her mind but couldn’t find the memory she wanted me to find. I pulled back and saw that I've lost another twenty minutes since I started. Time goes by so fast with this magic!  
“Something’s wrong,” I said.  
“What do you mean?” Sage asked slowly.  
“This technique, this magic. It’s not possible to search for information this way. The process is too fast; I think it should be slower,”  
“Enough. You’re just being lazy, you don’t want to try because you know you will fail again and again and it seems that you think everything should be handed to you on a silver platter. Magic is not fun and games,” Sage fumed.  
“I never said that it is, I'm just saying that I don’t think,” I tried but she interrupted.  
“You’re not supposed to think, you’re supposed to act, clearly you don’t have an act for magic, or this technique. You will be nothing but a failure. Nina made a mistake to employ you, you’re clearly not fit for the job, I have no choice, I must inform Nina that you should be demoted.”  
She got up and started walking.  
“No!” I jumped up and grabbed her arm to stop her.  
I saw a younger Sage holding a girl in her arms, behind me a man yelled out in pain and I looked to see why. Two men were holding him down, a third stood in front of him holding an oddly shaped sword in each hand. He took one sword and ran it through the eyeball of the man being held down. He pulled the sword out slowly and plucked the eyeball out along with it, I saw brain matter drip from the blade.  
“Now little sister, there is nothing left to take from you. I shall leave you with your life, let it not be said that I am without mercy.”  
The men dispersed into black vapor leaving the young Sage in tears.  
I gasped and let her hand go. I closed my eyes and panted, trying to get a grip on reality.   
“You did it,” Sage whispered softly and she sounded shocked. “After one week you did it, this must be the first time anyone has ever managed it in such a short time. It’s unheard of.”  
“What did I see Sage? What was that?” I asked while I sat down, the memory burned in my head.   
“My past. I think we should make sure that it wasn’t a fluke. Try it again. Try to access a memory again,” she held out her hand and I hesitated before I took it again.

I knew the same memory would appear again but I wanted something different, I pushed it aside and another memory popped up.  
I saw four people, two couples, I recognized Sage and the man she sat with, his eye was plucked out in the previous memory. I didn’t recognize the other couple and something about the woman bothered me, she seemed familiar somehow though I’m not entirely sure what.  
“Amy come on! Don’t keep me waiting, what’s the surprise you were talking about earlier?” Sage asked the other girl.  
“Ok Sage,” Amy said and looked at the man she was with he seemed out of focus in the memory, her happiness felt contagious, I don’t know who this girl is but I felt happy for her.  
“What is it?!” Sage was excited.  
“He proposed to me, I said yes, were engaged!” Amy yelled and both girls jumped up and hugged each other while jumping around like teenage girls.

“I can do it now,” I said and let go of Sage’s arm.   
“Let us go to Nina,” Sage said and walked to the front door with no congratulations or anything.  
“I don’t understand, I learned the magic, I finished the second stage, why do you still want to go to Nina?”  
“Do not argue with me. Come now.”  
Sage teleported us back to the building and told me to go to Nina’s on my own. To tell her I completed the technique and wait.   
I walked into Nina’s office feeling annoyed and saw the frown on Nina’s face when she looked up from examining a crystal to see me there. She wasn’t alone, a small man stood there holding a quill and a contract.  
“Raven, this man has signed a contract; I want you to take him to the carpenter. Perhaps he’ll be of some use there, though he might die of old age any day now. Why are you back early?”  
“I finished the technique,” I said annoyed that Sage wouldn’t teach me something else.   
I heard something fall on the ground and looked up to see Nina standing with her hand empty of the crystal.  
“You, you finished it already?” Nina said and walked to one of the ropes hanging from the ceiling, she tugged on one twice and started going through her drawers looking for something.   
After a few minutes Connor walked through the office doors and Nina took out a small paper from her drawers, she unfolded the page until she had a large page open on her desk, she pressed her hand against it and as she raised her hand the page thickened until completely changed into a book that she started paging through immediately.   
“It’s been so long since I studied this magic, here it is.” She started reading the text in a low mumble to herself and then closed her eyes but continued to mumble.   
“Connor, this man has signed a contract and is employed to work under the carpenter, would you take him for me. I have more important things to take care of,” she opened her eyes while clearly saying something to herself.   
“Anything else,” Connor asked eyeing Nina with some mild curiosity.  
“For the next six hours, I want no interruptions, make sure the front desk is told this, if one bell rings up here I’ll send whoever rung it straight to you so make them aware of this threat.”  
“I don’t think I want to, I wouldn’t mind a few more hands down in that oven.” Connor said and laughed as he closed the doors.  
“Come here,” Nina said and with a flick of her finger the table cleared of all objects.  
She looked inside the book and once again started mumbling but in a language I didn’t recognize.   
“Since I started my hotel, I have not once had an apprentice who wanted to excel in the job. Normally they try everything they can to escape, like Vern did. Therefore I never really give them access to anything except what I had you do this week. Sage tells me that your powers were bound by a witch that even Amlo couldn’t figure out.”  
“I never told her that, not the Amlo bit,” I said and Nina laughed.  
“When you train the memory sight technique, you open up your mind to whomever you’re training with. While you were poking around in Sage’s mind, she poked around in yours.”  
I said nothing. What’s fair is fair I suppose even though I feel mind raped.  
“Now, you completed the memory sight correct?” Nina asked cryptically. I just nodded.  
“Very well, you completed it for the purpose to be a good apprentice is that right?” she asked and once again I nodded.   
Nina put her hands on the table the same way Sage has been doing this last week while I've been under her training.   
“The first stage of memory sight allows you access to a memory on a person’s mind, the second stage allows you to duplicate that information into your mind. The two combined allows you to receive information at a faster rate than you would normally. You should have noticed that I haven’t given you anything truly worthwhile to do since you started working for me. I’ve been waiting for this moment. Once you learn what I’m about to teach you, you will understand everything it means to be my apprentice, I must warn you, it’s not going to be easy, you’ll have to be unkind. If you take my hands, you must be prepared to suffer the consequences. Are you prepared for that? Are you sure you want to be a true apprentice to the midnight hotel, if not, you can be like all those before you. It is still your choice.”  
“I’m already more than halfway there. Might as well see it through to the end.”  
“There’s one more thing,” she said slowly.  
“What else?”  
“There is information I will intentionally give you, about this technique. Something Sage had not told you. Knowledge comes with a price, sometimes the price is knowing too much.”  
I thought about it for a second and then I put my hands in hers.   
Everything stormed into my head. The building, each and every room. The construction of the floors, the people working on every floor. The initiation of the five divisions of the midnight hotel. Each division head, their purpose, their functions, their requirements and their demands. Each room and its purpose, the purpose of every employee swam around in my head. The purpose of the apprentice, the idea of Nina’s ideal apprentice. The information forced itself into my mind, finding a place to exist. Every purpose and act I had to fulfill as an apprentice stormed into my mind. More and more information forced itself inside. I don’t know if I can handle all of it, isn’t there a limit to how much information a person can take in at any single given moment. I let go of Nina’s hands and let out a breath of mental relief.   
“What was that?” Nina asked suddenly.  
“Sigh, a very elongated unnecessary but useful sigh to indicate my mental state.”  
“No, I’m talking about the smoke that came out of your mouth?”  
“The what now?”   
“Never mind. Did you get everything?” she asked and glared at me.  
“No, I pulled back, I think there’s still a little more there. Can I just have a minute to take a breather?”  
“Give me your hands, when you get all the information I have to give, then you may go home and relax, how does that sound?” she asked.  
I looked at her and even though I’m really mentally exhausted, I held out my hands and she smiled as she put hers in mine this time.   
I took everything, my brain protested but I endured, I pulled everything she made available into my head. Every detail, every duty, I didn’t leave a single memory out. I finally found the most important piece of information, a mental guide Nina had for the apprentice. Every line and every response, all of it memorized in her head since she wrote it. I pulled out the entire subject and took it into my own head. That was the last of it. I let go of Nina’s hands and closed my eyes, the memories and knowledge I just took still had to rearrange themselves, after a few minutes everything I took burst into my mind. All the apprentice stuff exploded and my body became slump with the information overload.   
After what felt like ten minutes I opened my eyes, I felt different, I never knew exactly what the role of everyone in the building was, least of all my own. Now, thanks to Nina, I know everything I should.  
“Last week was a test, you had to be approved by the majority of the five before I could allow you this information, Connor, Lydia and Reginald agreed that they approved you. Now you have everything you need to know about who you are in this building. Do you have anything to say?” She crossed her arms and waited for my response.   
“I want to learn something else tomorrow. I don’t know any spells and even less of the ones you place around the hotel. I’ll see you tomorrow Nina, twelve right?” She nodded and I left to do my routine rounds. Something came to my mind, the technique. The information she gave me opened itself up to me.   
“People refer to you as a witch,” I said and she nodded. “This technique, it’s not sorcery is it?”  
“No, it’s not sorcery at all.” She said and looked at me with those green eyes. I nodded and left.  
I got home and noticed Jason’s car in the driveway. He walked out and came to greet me.   
“How was work?” he asked and grinned.   
“I can proudly say that it ended in success.”   
We walked into my house like we’ve been doing everyday of this week. Jason waits for me at my home and then welcomes be back. I haven’t seen or heard from Robert or Kristen this whole time, I wonder if Rob might be mad about his ‘dismissal’ last week. We walked to the kitchen where my cup already awaited me with all the contents except water inside. Jason closed the tap to the dishes and started washing.   
“Why do you do that?” I asked and watched him as he scrubbed the cup clean.  
“Do what?” he asked while rinsing the cup of.  
“Why don’t you just use magic to clean, why do it manually?”   
He looked at his hands and then smiled.  
“I grew up with magic, I’m so use to it by now, the thing is, I like to pretend that I’m human sometimes, I drive to school, I manually wash dishes instead of using magic. My family is so high up the magical community list that I’m expected to be a super sorcerer. Breaking away from it by doing mundane human things helps me cope a little.”  
I didn’t say anything as he continued. I wonder if that would be my case if I grew up with magic. Would I have been him? Use my hands instead of magic. I just want to do everything with magic. I don’t even tie my shoelaces anymore or take of my jacket without means of magic. I don’t have the patience to concentrate on washing the dishes the whole time so I still do that manually. I try to incorporate magic in as much as I can. It’s not just because Sage told me that it would help me refine my circuit control, it’s simply because I want to.   
“Let’s go to the shop,” I said as an idea came to me.   
“Isn’t it too late?”  
“Nope, gas station. Let’s go.   
We walked into the shop and I looked around to see if I could spot someone. I noticed an old man and walked to him. He took out a pack of cookies and I used magic to make it fall out of his hand. I ran and picked up the packet and handed it to him. He took it from my hand and I accessed his mind.   
I saw an old woman in her bead, she coughed; he brought her soup that he had been working on for an hour. He put down the tray and she smiled at him, he reached out and hugged her. 

I pulled out of the memory, smiled at the old man and left. I don’t have access to all his memory, only the one on his mind at that moment. This technique doesn’t enable me to go through his mind, just obtain a random memory. I got a coffee and paid for it.   
“Is that all you’re going to get? We drove all the way out here just for that?”  
“It isn’t supposed to rain,” I said and looked outside, I could feel it, smell it in the air, rain. “We have to go before it starts pouring.” I rushed out and got in Jason's car.   
“Raven, it’s not going to rain_” he looked up, I saw it on the windscreen, little drops began to fall.  
“Hurry up Jason, I hate being rain-wet,” I yelled and the drops began to fall at a more regular interval.   
When we got home I ran to the house, used magic to open the gate, and made the front door unlock itself. Once inside I turned around and the heavy downpour began. I saw my breath as I exhaled.   
“How did you know it was going to rain?” Jason asked and I saw Sin standing next to me.  
“I don’t know, I just did, I could feel it. It’s not supposed to rain today, what’s going on?” I could sense something in the air, it’s like this rain is charged with magic.   
“This is the work of one of our kind. Probably a powerful one at that, making it rain so fast requires a lot of magical power.  
He held out his hand and it began to hail.   
“Why do you only focus on one type of magic?”  
“What are you talking about?”   
“I've noticed you mainly focus on magic that revolves around ice.”  
He grinned and then lifted his hand and it turned a cold blue.  
“You know what an avion ability is right?”   
I nodded.  
“Mine is to manipulate ice, it runs in my family, except they control snow. Wherever there’s an unexpected snowstorm, you can bet that the Isis family are behind it.”  
“But I thought avion abilities are unique to the person who has them; I didn't know it could run in the family?”  
“Of course, I forgot, you don’t know. Ok so there are two types of avion abilities, class 1 and 2. Class two avion abilities are the ones your thinking about, the ones that only one person have. Class one on the other hand differs completely. It’s a power unique to the family who hold it. It’s bloodline magic. Every member in my family to hold the Isis bloodline, have the ability to control snow, the bloodline is developing slightly. Mine has advanced to where I control ice along with snow.”  
“That’s cool,” I said and watched him twirl flake of snow in the air.  
“Its ok, I mean my family is the third noble family in the magical community of Eldeen, but it has its downsides, my children, their children and every other descendant I have will never have an avion ability. Just like my parents, their parents and every Isis ancestor I have. Bloodline magic doesn’t allow any other power in the vessel.”  
“So does that mean you either have a class one or two avion ability but never both?”   
“Exactly, you either have a bloodline or a random power, but nobody can vessel two sets of avion abilities. If there’s a bloodline ability, there will never be a class 2 ability in any of the descendants.” He let the snow fall to the ground and looked up, the rain turned into snow around my lawn but not further than my fence.   
We sat on the couch in the living room, Sin, and Eclipse at their usual designated Raven places. I don’t ever ask Jason too much magical stuff. Not in the sense of him teaching me. I try to maintain a balance; I’d rather be friends with Jason than use him to learn magic. That’s what I have Nina and the midnight hotel for.   
I could hear Jason snoring next to me and I closed my eyes, I could feel exhaustion kick in. 

“Again?” I asked as we flew through the air to our next destination.   
“Yes, again, we will do this many times until you deserve it,” it said and we entered the house were sorrow seeped through the walls brought forth by the suffering of another childless mother. 

I woke up at two and wiped the sweat from my face. The fire blazed and I got out of the room. I looked back, Jason must have let himself out at some point. I took a shower and when I got out I leaned against the wall and tried to remember what I dreamt. I felt groggy and grumpy. I walked to the mirror and saw the tattoo on my left side. It’s not extreme; I got it a year after I got the one on my wrist. It’s the famous old Chinese symbol for good and bad, yin and yang. The two opposites that must live in perfect harmony within each other, neither being able to continue forth without some of the other. I had the word balance written out in five different languages and they were vertically lined down my left side.   
After the shower I sat for ten minutes unsure of what to do with myself.   
“Might as well go,” I said to Eclipse and she purred at me.   
I drove to the midnight and by three I was walking into the lobby.   
“Quite early young master Raven is there a problem?” the name keeper –Jeffrey - asked me.  
“No, couldn’t sleep. Thank you.” I walked to the front desk and took my daily items. The booking and guest waiting list. I told the girl at the front desk to have some Chinese sent up to Nina’s office. She nodded and I proceeded to the elevator. The doors opened and a very peculiar man stood inside, he grinned with very red lips and an odd blank expression on his face. I should recognize his face, in my head something tugged that I should recognize him.  
“Hi!” he said and sounded way too happy.  
“Hello, how are you?” I asked and pressed the button.   
“I’m so damn high right now!” he yelled as the doors closed.  
“What?”   
“I found a potion on the ground and drank it, whatever that shit was sent me on a trip so I’m tripping out man.  
I remembered him; he came with Nina’s memories.  
“You’re the watcher, aren’t you?”  
“Damn straight bitch!” he laughed. “I don’t even know where I’m going or where I am for that matter.” He started giggling.   
“Ok, from what I know, this is normal behavior for you. I’m just supposed to leave you alone.”  
He started giggling like a school girl.   
“Do you see the bubbles all around us? They so pretty,” he tried to pop the bubbles that only he could see.  
“If you drink a potion that you find on the ground, aren’t you scared that it might be poisonous?”  
“I wish!” he laughed and the pressed all the buttons.   
“Really not worried about a poison or anything?”  
“Bitch I isn’t scared of shit,” he said and peered at me with his big eyes. Something about him just felt weird, I didn’t sense him like I do other sorcerers which means he must be something else. I’m only getting the whispers sensation from him. Sage and I estimated that when it’s only the tingling sensation I’m sensing magic, when it’s only whispering it meant I'm sensing a different species of magic. When it’s, both I'm sensing a magical being of my own kind – human – even though I might not have the ability to pinpoint a magical presence whether it be my kind or another human magical being. That’s the theory Sage and I put together at least. All I know is that she’s pretty damn impressed with my sensing ability.   
“This is your floor goodbye!” the watcher said as the doors opened.   
“I guess I’ll see you, bye,” I said and turned around to look at his too very happy face.  
“Bye,” he said and dragged the word out in an eerie way.   
I walked to Nina’s office and started some paper work; the cleaning division get paid this coming Friday. I started writing out the paychecks. Magical currency is basic: Ten bronze coins make one silver coin, ten silver coins makes a silver coin with a bronze star inside and then ten bronze starred silvers generate one gold. I don’t pay too much attention to employee names and such. I don’t have access to Nina’s contracts but I know that many of the names I read might be gone next week. I finished by six am and started scribbling on a piece of paper. I pulled on the ropes in Nina’s office and when the suite service came I ordered Chinese again.   
“You’re in early,” Nina said walking into her office as the service man walked out.   
“I couldn’t sleep. I met the watcher, interesting fellow that one.”  
Nina put her bag on the table and saw the paperwork I had done.   
“You can’t come in early every day to do this, you do know that,” she said and scanned through the paychecks.  
“I have a sleeping disorder, I’m lucky if I can get in four hours of sleep a day. So instead of just rolling around in my bed I do something. Today I came in earlier because I already finished most of my school stuff in advance. I can pretty much come in everyday if I want to.”  
“So let me understand this, you have a sleeping disorder and that’s how you manage to be ‘on top of things?”   
I nodded.  
“You truly are the perfect candidate for the position. Now Sage only comes in later and seeing how you’ve already finished the first two hours of my day, I think it’s time I teach you some of my own magical knowledge.”  
I sat up straight and stared into her green eyes, they seemed clear today, like age never bothered them at all.   
“In magic there are various kinds of species you can be born into and from there different job positions you can pursue.   
In the magical community there are alchemists, warriors, sorcerers, warlocks, witches, keepers, disc users, elementals, mage’s, guardians and so on.” She turned to me.  
“My building since its foundation has homed many types of magical beings and people. I don’t discriminate. However the magical community is not particularly fond of me and my kind. You see sorcerers are now the majority specie in comparison to long ago. Every other species is lesser in numbers. Our kind are amongst the minority.”  
“You mean witches,” I stated.   
“The magical community hate our kind because they fear us above anything else.”  
“Fear witches? I thought witches were the minority?”  
“They are but witches are in tune with a force greater in power that sorcerers cannot touch.”  
“What greater power is that?”  
“We are directly linked to nature and by such have access to magic that nature grants us.”  
“You keep saying us and our kind.”  
“You are a witch Mr. Raven. The technique you’ve mastered is memory sight, something only a witch is capable of using in its second level.”  
“They fear us, why?”  
“As servants of nature, we can access nature and they cannot. We can manipulate the nature of things if we choose. Long ago, witches governed magical law and some even wrote laws into the accords that were so strong that the magic saw the laws governed and never broken, like the first law. Sorcerers began eliminating our kind slowly in order overthrow the witches and rule themselves. The witches chose to step aside and let them take over. They went into hiding for a time and this led to our decrease in numbers. Now there are fewer covens than before, we live outside of the laws of the sorcerer cities and instead live by our own regime.  
“What’s the difference between witchcraft and sorcery?” I asked not sure myself.   
“It’s a very fine line actually, in fact sorcerers think themselves above it, but some of the magic they practice roots from the kind of magic I practice.” Nina said and snapped her finger and a pot levitated to her now empty table.  
“Witchcraft draws power from not only the user but from certain aspects in nature. The elements, earth air, fire and water help enrich our practices. We draw most power from celestial events, such as a full moon, an eclipse, energy produced from meteorites. In the occurrence of a natural disaster we can draw on the energy provided from that disaster, a volcanic eruption, a tsunami, a hurricane or even an earthquake because they all fall under the elements influence, the exception to that being a natural disaster generated by a magical being.”  
“Elements, celestial events, natural disasters, got it,” I said and nodded my head.  
“There is more, there is darker magic out there that taps into the energy that resonates with an untimely death, namely sacrifice. Normally nature takes that energy though the earth but witchcraft can take that energy and tap into it. The only problem is that you must be a regular practitioner of dark magic to understand it and normally practicing dark magic leaves behind traces and requires certain aspects of the user to be given as tribute to access. I will never teach you that branch of the magic, it is unkind and once you’re lost to the darkness, it’s almost impossible to return from that path,” she took out a couple of boxes and opened them. I saw mainly herbs and a few roots.  
“Potions are used by both sorcerers and witches. A potion draws its power form the ingredients used to brew it and on occasion magic provided through incantation by the one who brews it or any other person with the gift of magic. The principles are those of witchcraft but because it isn’t truly the practice of magic it isn’t considered as such. Do you see how that line is very fine? They can say whatever they want to, it’s all the same to me.”  
She took a glass of water and threw it in the pot.  
She threw in a few herbs and only when she added some weird mucky looking dust did the potion inside begin reacting. -  
“You see the symbol on my roof, inside there are various forms and spells. Disc magic makes use of various symbols that draw energy from certain natural energies and combines them to generate an end result. We cannot change them, we can only use them as they are given to us. Once you learn a single disc it becomes embedded in your body and you can summon it with your right to the magic. It’s almost like summoning a unit but the difference is that once you summon your unit from the very first time it’s almost effortless. Only the initial first summon is complex for each sorcerer. You not having summoned a unit are an anomaly to be quite honest.”  
“I try,” I retorted and then stayed quiet. I though I heard someone singing somewhere for a brief second. It stopped and I looked back at Nina.  
“What is sorcery then?”   
“They believe that their not tapping into nature but into power inside the body. You understand the circuit, we serve as pressure relievers to the ever building layer of magic that flows in the air. The dragons were the original keepers of that purpose but humans hunted them and the magic needed a new outlet and chose humans and since then a new species of human walked the earth, namely sorcerers, whereas witches existed long before that. We are all born with magic inside of us and we can cast spells and use incantations to create a desired effect that we could not have achieved without some form of difficulty. For example,” she turned to her window and it shattered and fell to the ground. She walked to the broken pieces and with a twirl of her finger made it repair itself.  
“It’s hard to really explain the difference between the two to someone who’s so new to this world. All I can tell you to do is experience it. You will eventually understand the difference yourself.”  
She added a snake skin and there was a small explosion from the pot and blue smoke filled the air.  
I looked as the blue smoke took strange shapes and forms and eventually dispersed.   
“Was it supposed to do something?”  
Nina pouted and her eyes were narrowed. After another ten seconds she waved her hands up in the air like she had lost an agreement.  
“Still nothing, this is unbelievable, I even used black oak powder. Do you have any idea how rare that is?”   
“I'm not sure what you’re talking about?”  
She sat down on her throne chair and the pot hovered in the air.  
“You remember how you came to be my apprentice?”  
“Blackmail, life threatening etc. I remind you every day. What about it?”   
“On that first day, the reason she started screaming were because I cast a powerful spell that would make everyone around me think that their on fire, like she did.”  
“Your point?” I asked and Nina let out an exaggerated sigh.  
“My point is that you should have also been affected by the illusion. At first I thought you cast a spell to protect you from illusions, then I learned that you don’t know anything.”  
“Ok, I’m still not,” she gave me a shut your face or I kill you look and I shut it.  
“So I started thinking, what if you weren’t affected by illusionary type of magic, I had to make sure, so I created a toxin that generates a powerful illusion unless you have the antibody in your blood. Yet still after being exposed to it for five minutes you still show no signs of being under any illusions.”  
“What would I have seen, if I were affected?” I asked.  
“The skin rotting of your bones with maggots tearing through your flesh,” she said nonchalantly.  
“Can I say how disturbing that sounds?”  
“You should see how people affected by the spell react,” it looked like she was reminiscing.  
“So it means that I’m not affected by illusions?”  
“There’s potential there, I think it might be more than that.”  
“What do you mean more?”   
“There are two main effects that magic have on a person, namely: physical and mental. Illusionary magic falls under mental, for you to not be affected by it means that you possibly have some kind of natural mental defenses.”  
“I assume that it’s a good thing?”   
She rolled her eyes and then smoothed out her hair.  
“Eventually you will understand what a gift it is,” she played a little with her earlobe and looked deep in thought. “I wonder if your power is like the third lieutenants, she has the ability to generate a physical shield and has an automatic mental shield.”  
Nina stood up and walked to the mirror.  
“So you have the antibody in your system?” I asked and she frowned at me the understood.   
“I do, but if it was a matter of a sorcerer trying to create an illusion in my head, I wouldn’t be affected.  
“Why not, do you also have a mental shield?” I made her laugh.  
“No, I am a witch, a sorcerer cannot overpower my mind, only nature can.”  
“So being a witch makes me immune to mind magic?” I said and she smiled.   
“You have to be a relatively gifted witch to be able to avoid infiltration, since you aren’t a regular witch, your ability to avoid my spell I cast that day is not a matter of being a witch. It’s something different. Now where was I?” she said and then remembered.   
“What the hell!” I said loudly when she walked through the mirror and disappeared.  
I slowly walked closer to it and when I stood in front of it I slowly reached out my hand to see if it would go through and to my shock it did. I walked through the mirror.  
I stood in a completely different room filled with cupboard and wood tables with cauldrons and everything that at some time in the past people would have pointed out and yelled; “burn her on the stake!”   
Nina pulled out a box and from it she took out a book that was as old as the table she put it on.   
“Next week I think it would be a good idea for Sage to start you on spells. You’ll be earning them the old fashioned way and not with your memory sight. There are no shortcuts to the study and practice of magic. I assume that you don’t have a spell book so tell your friend of the guard to take you to go get one, on that day I want you to collect something from me. Understand?”   
I nodded and watched her as she paged through the massive spell book.   
“I want you to lift that table from the ground and keep it suspended until I tell you otherwise.”  
I tapped into my raw magic and lifted the table. I kept it in the air and noticed that I could use a little less magic. I played around with my circuit outlet. Refining your circuit control means that you use magic on a chair to lift it and don’t waste unnecessary magic while doing so. I pulled back as much magic as I could before the table would start to lower.   
“I want you to lift that chair over there and the table next to it without dropping the books.  
I closed my eyes and reached out with my magic to feel the chair and table, I lifted the table first and when I had a grip on it I lifted the chair”  
“Here it is,” she said and stopped paging through the book. She started reading and mumbled something to herself. Then she took out a jar and pointed her finger at it making water fill it up.   
“I want you to feel the water inside this jar, you should be able to feel the energy of the element and keep the chair and tables up there while you’re at it.”  
How the hell am I supposed to do that! I have no idea how to feel energy from anything. I looked at the jar of water, I tried to feel any form of energy from the water but I felt nothing. I tried again and again but to no avail.   
‘I didn’t think so, let’s see what happens when I add another element,” she took out a candle, lit it and then placed it on the table. I could feel the strain of my raw magic on my circuit, it’s a different sensation than being tired from a physical exercise. I looked at the candle and jar of water and concentrated again. I could feel something there, I tried harder to feel the energy and felt my circuit inside me make the links again. I could feel the energy, it’s really feint but once my circuit made all the connections it suddenly became stronger. I could feel the energy from the two elements. It still felt feint but I had a clear ‘touch ‘on it. There was something there, the connections inside me reached out to it and the candle began to burn brighter but nothing happened to the water. I felt the tables and chair lift higher against the ceiling and then I lost my grip and the furniture fell to the ground and the candle went out.   
“You, you actually tapped into the collective energy of two elements, this truly unheard of.”  
“Thanks,” I said panting.  
“Sage won’t be in until later, you can go swim for a little and then return here at nine, we have very important guests this week and that requires some special planning.”  
I just gawked at her, is there nothing she doesn’t know?  
I walked out of the mirror room and headed down the elevator.  
After I came in Monday I went to explore the hotel and found a massive swimming pool at the lowest level and to my delight I found that it’s not ever used by clients due to maintenance that never came. So I had it repaired using my position as apprentice but kept it locked. So every day when I finish I go swim for a little. I don’t know how Nina knows about it but lately I don’t let myself get surprised by stuff like that anymore. If I think about it, she must have seen the invoice or something, one of the five probably told her about it I’m sure.   
The elevator doors opened and I walked to the pool. The entire ceiling is decorated with images of magical animals that dwell in the water. Mermaids, dragons, water nymphs, sprites and sea serpents were of the few that I saw. The images swam on the ceiling and gave way to `the greater effect of being in an aquarium. On the walls were images of animals that were regularly noted on the water but didn’t live beneath it which mainly consisted of birds and frogs and a few other animals. On the pool floor were images of dolphins that swam around beneath you. I took of my shirt and took a towel from the shelf. I jumped into the pool and stayed beneath the water and allowed the silence to take my thoughts and enjoyed the silencing nothing it brought. The air in my body began to lift me and in return I used raw magic to pull me down. It occurred to me that I was surrounded by an element and I concentrated to feel the energy I felt in Nina’s room. Surely it stands to reason that I should now be able to tap into the energy of the water element with less difficulty.  
I tried taping into the energy but the problem is I can’t tap into energy I couldn’t feel. I couldn’t pick up on the water energy. I went up for air and used magic to keep me up, I’m liking magic more by the day. I closed my eyes and floated around, I used my raw magic to feel for the pool sides to make sure that I don’t accidently hit my head. I felt really lazy, my mind wandered around on random things and eventually I thought about Will. I haven’t phoned him at all since the last time we spoke before I learned about magic. I don’t know what to do about him, I want to tell him but it is forbidden to tell humans about magic. I looked at the ceiling, a mermaid and merman were racing around above my head, they were laughing. I closed my eyes and listened to the sounds around me. I thought about the singing I heard earlier, I can’t imagine who it could have been though it seemed familiar somehow, like I’ve heard it before. I’ve never known anyone who could sing like that.   
Something must have happened to the water, it felt hard beneath my back, the room felt warmer, even with my eyes closed I could see that the room was brighter.   
I heard singing. I opened my eyes and saw a girl close by. Her black hair contrasted with her pale skin, she lay on her back with a black dress that looked like something out of the Elizabethan era. I only saw the back of her head, there were two animals in the distance; dogs. The sound that came out of her mouth cannot be described as singing, it would be an insult. It was a sound so beautiful that my mind couldn’t process it properly. I barely noticed all the life sized dolls on the ground around us.   
I’m not in the pool anymore…  
I looked around and saw that I lay on the ground of a room covered with roses from the walls to the ceiling but none on the floor. The girl turned her head and looked at me, she stopped singing. Her lips were pale blue but her eyes, blue like the shallow water on a beach, around her eyes were weird black smudges, like coal had been smudged around them of makeup. It emphasized the blue and made it slightly scary. She slowly lifted her head and I noticed that something wet dripped of each black strand. I looked closer and saw it was red paint, weird red paint. I got up slowly without really looking away from her. With my hindsight I noticed that there was red paint all over the floor. I was covered in the weird paint. I don’t know why, but since she stopped singing, a feeling of dread started to overwhelm me.   
“Who are you?” she asked softly, her voice carried a melodic tune with a slight hint of infant innocence…   
“My name,” I lifted my hand and looked carefully at the paint as it dripped, it’s really strange paint, it’s slightly transparent but thick. I noticed the smell in the air and looked at the dolls again.   
“The hell is this?” I started breathing, not dolls, not paint; bodies and blood.  
“What is your name?” she asked with a soft voice and I looked at her, she lay here in blood singing, who does that!  
Suddenly I felt like I was choking on air, something rapped around me, I couldn’t breathe even though there was nothing visibly constricting my airway.   
The girl stood up and walked to me, she kneeled in front of me and then smiled like a two year old looking at a puppy.  
“I don’t know who you are, but I’m going to kill you, I doubt you’re a key,” she raised her hand and when she brought it down she held a dagger and pointed it to my throat. “I’m going to kill you now.” This close I could see that she was slightly older than me, maybe seventeen or eighteen.  
She pressed the dagger against my throat and then everything disappeared and I fell into the pool and nearly drowned. I climbed out and coughed until my body decided that it has had enough. I felt my throat and sure enough I felt a very thin line where the blade of the dagger had been. I don’t know what just happened. I ran to the towel rack and grabbed my clothes and went to the elevator. 

“Are you sure? Black hair, blue eyes and smudges around the eyes?” Nina asked me while Sage brewed a potion. I sat on a chair, shaking slightly even though it wasn’t cold.   
“Yeah, that and a floor full of blood.”  
“Are you sure you were there, it wasn’t a vision?” Sage asked and threw something that looked like a misshapen tree root in the cauldron.”  
“Because I want to cut my own throat?” I said and pointed at the line on my throat again.  
The two of them exchanged a look and I understood.  
“You know who that girl is don’t you?”  
Connor walked in and Sage walked behind him and locked the door. She did something else, she pressed her thumb against the doors and looked like she drew an invisible line between them.   
“What’s going on?” Connor asked and Sage added a powder to the cauldron and I heard the content beginning to bubble.  
“He saw her, he saw Mave,” Nina said and as she said Mave a sudden anger flushed through me that I couldn’t explain.  
“How?”   
“He somehow managed to teleport himself – with no idea how he did it – into the same room that she lay in, apparently having just finished a massacre,” Nina said.  
“You don’t know how to teleport yet, how did you?”  
“We’ve already been through this, I don’t know how I did it, one moment I was still in the pool and trying to tap into the water element with no success and then suddenly I'm in a different place. Who is this Mave anyway?”  
“Right now she’s the magical community’s biggest problem, nobody knows where she came from, she just popped up out of nowhere several years ago and has been a serious threat since. She’s gathered followers and so many at that, it’s truly concerning,” Connor added.  
“She lay in a pool of blood. She was singing in a pool of blood!”   
“You should be grateful that yours wasn’t added, the fact that your alive, few sorcerers who come face to face with her ever live.”  
Sage handed me a goblet with whatever it is that she brewed and nodded me to drink it. I did and could feel my nerves and senses relaxing.   
“Sage,” Nina nearly whispered. “You’re going to have to start combat training with him, he’s escaped her and I’m not sure that she’ll let him go quietly, I think we need to force his unit.”  
All three of them looked at me, I know that if it wasn’t for the potion Sage gave me, I would probably suffer a panic attack or something.  
Sage took me to her home again but we didn’t go inside, instead Sage suddenly turned around and struck me.  
“When fighting a sorcerer, you must be prepared for anything. Anything and everything is a weapon and a threat. Not a moment must go by where your mind isn’t processing at least ten different means of attack.”  
Sage ran toward me and slammed her palm against my chest.   
“I specialize in close combat martial arts. Nina prefers her distance, she has that power to manage long range attacks on a constant level.”  
“You can’t so you use fighting as a back-up,” I said out loud, clearly the potion has numbed my sense of caution before I speak. Sage took her robe off and dropped it on the ground, underneath she wore a very short skirt with knee high boots and a very elegant top. She must have pulled a string or something because her very short skirt extended by ten inches right up to her knees. The knee high boots began to glow and then I watched as the pair of shoes changed shape. When they stopped glowing her shoes looked way different. They were silver an only ankle high, on the other hand it looked like she had a silver cloth tied to each arm.   
“Nina wants me to force you to summon your unit, no mercy.” Sage bowed and then she launched at me. She tried to land a punch but my reflexes kicked in automatically. I ducked her punch and dodged every blow she tried to land whether it be with her fists or her feet.   
“You have had training before?” Sage asked when I managed to throw her off her assault.  
“My Grandmother made me do all of these random things, I thought she just went senile or something, clearly I was mistaken.  
“Stay right here,” Sage said and disappeared in a puff of vapor like smoke.   
I took in the sunrays on my skin, it felt soothing. I closed my eyes for a brief second and saw that girl in the blood again.   
“Here,” Sage said suddenly.  
On her return Sage brought with her three guys who worked in different divisions, I could see their division in their uniform.   
Sage brought a member from the carpenters division, the laborers division and last the boilers division. The three guys Sage brought with her looked tough, like prepared to take me down tough. Their expressions could do with some cheering up.   
“You will fight these three,” she said and they took a step forward.  
“At once?” I asked and looked at them, the one from the boiler was flexing his shoulders, the carpenter popped his knuckles and the one from the labor division raised his fists.   
“Good idea, get him,” she commanded and the three of them came at me.   
I’ve been in fights when I was younger. I use to get into a lot of fights at school, never had more than one opponent at a time. This is the first time, I thought it would be more difficult though. I know the stuff Gran had me do wasn’t as intense but I found it easy to avoid a punch, to back away from a foot and to remain unharmed the whole time.  
“Very well, use magic,” Sage said and I spun around to look at her. I can’t do any magic to help me fight and she knows it.   
They brought out their units and began attacking. I noticed that they moved different, they seemed faster. The guy from the boiler division jumped and raised his fist, I rolled out of the way and watched as he punched the ground, making the earth crack. I sensed magic behind me and moved left, I turned around to see the labor guy swing a pole at me. I sensed a magical presence behind me and grabbed whoever it was and traded places with him. He took the impact of the pole and fell to the ground, whether it be unconscious or dead I’m not sure. The boiler division is now out for the count. The labor and the carpenter guys stood next to each other, the carpenter guy wielded a crooked sword with sharp edges sticking out form the sides. They both charged at me, I could sense the magic they were channeling. I let out a breath and everything I learned from Gran rushed through my mind and my body took a stance on its own. I watched as the guy with the sword began to swing it, it glowed slightly in the air, I saw the pole behind him. I took in the breath and my body reacted. I waited for the sword to come down, grabbed his arm forced it back and finally reached for his throat and threw him backwards. The labor guy use the pole to jump over the carpenter and I met him as he came down with a kick in the chest that would take his breath away, literally. I turned to Sage who didn't look impressed in the least.   
“You were meant to summon a unit, not take them out.”  
“How was an uneven match going to help me summon my unit?”   
“Normally when a sorcerer is in a state of heightened emotional stress, they produce their units. I’m surprised you didn’t summon it when your father nearly killed you. It might take a different kind of approach for you to summon your unit.” She raised her arms, the metal cloths moved to her hands and changed into silver gloves. She pointed to the three guys unconscious and something emerged from her hand, it looked like a cd disc, it landed on the ground and enlarged until it reached beneath all three guys. Sage made a gesture and they disappeared instantly. I didn’t ask.  
“In all my years, I've never seen anyone so easily adapt to a fight,” a voice said behind me and I turned to look at Nina, her red hair seemed to glow in the sunlight.  
I didn’t know how to react to what she said, she simply walked to Sage and then turned to me again.  
“Few sorcerers are born with the natural ability to fight and rarely are there any so capable of containing themselves and not relish in their ability to be gifted like you. So much potential.”  
The two women exchanged a look and then turned their gazes to me. Sage took a step back giving Nina the spotlight.  
“Tomorrow you will return here with a spell book, its time you become a practitioner of magic and not just a simple novice. Your session with Sage is finished for today. Come with me.”  
In Nina’s office she closed the doors and then opened the bookings registry.  
“Listen to me carefully Raven, this week we have an important family coming to the hotel. I want you to go to room one hundred seventy five, get Lydia and a team of cleaners to go with you and make sure that everything is ok for when they arrive tomorrow, you can go home after that but you must be here at eleven tomorrow morning, do you understand me?” she peered at me over her glasses.   
I nodded and turned around.  
“One more thing I forgot. Lydia can do this herself, we have another guest, tell her that the bird is also arriving tomorrow, it’s not necessary for you to be in his room, Lydia can take care of that herself, or one of her division people can do it. Tell Lydia that her pet is ok. You may leave.”  
I left and headed for Lydia’s division door. I walked to the door that led to the entrance of the five.   
The hotel has one tower in the middle of the building, according to the elevator it’s the button labeled private. The only way to access it is by being an employee with clearance or being me. I walked out of the elevator and made my way to the tower. The tiles were black and white and the walls were covered in old paintings of mythical animals, one of which a dragon breathing fire into the air.   
I walked through the only door and found myself in a small room surrounded by seven doors. The door I came through, one for each of the five and a last door I don’t know anything about. What I do know is that I have no access to this room and that annoys me. I walked through the black and white door and found Lydia scolding a new girl.   
“We don’t take anything from the rooms, all property found in the rooms go to Nina and since you do not go to Nina but I do that means it comes to me, ok?”  
The girl answered and then left. Lydia held a scarf in her hands and the turned to me and smiled.  
“I thought we’d never see each other again, apprentice.”  
“It’s Raven and if Nina didn’t tell me to come here I probably wouldn’t have seen you today at all.”  
“What can I do to help?” she asked with a smile.  
“Apparently we have important guests arriving tomorrow. Nina wants me to supervise a cleaning, not that I would know what to do but I suppose that’s why I'm taking you along with me.”  
“Attention, team one get ready, were doing an all-purpose clean sweep on one of the suites. Get ready arm yourselves and be here in thirty seconds!”  
A group of ten cleaning division workers suddenly appeared in front of us. They were armed with cleaning utensils. I noticed that the girls were wearing hats that had a very witchy look to it while the three guys had hats that looked a little like what you’d expect a wizard to wear. Lydia followed me to the suite, somehow we all managed to fit in the elevator with space to spare, I didn’t ponder on it too long, after three seconds of confusion the knowledge surfaced from what I took from Nina. The elevator is designed to accommodate up to fifteen employees at a time and only seven guests.   
When the doors opened we walked out into a hallway with a single door only twenty meters away.   
“I've never actually been in any of the rooms before,” I admitted and Lydia looked at me with a smile.  
“It’s nothing amazing. Not once you see a million others like it,” Lydia walked and I followed her.  
We stopped at the door, I used my Amulet to gain access to the room. The door grew five times in size and split into two big doors. They opened and we walked inside.   
This suite has an ocean view, scent, sound and weather. I could see that the room hasn’t been cleaned since the last guests were here. The green goo on the roof that moved on its own was a clear indication.   
“Ok, spread out and contain that rogue potion and then get down to business,” Lydia said and sat down on the closest chair.   
I watched as the ten cleaners climbed on their brooms and went after the goo. After ten minutes of chasing it they managed to contain it in a blanket or something. Lydia took it and made it vanish.   
“Now get this place clean!”  
I sat down next to Lydia and looked as they spread out, each cleaner took his or her own room. The girl in the room we were in put her broom next to her and it started sweeping. She tapped the table and its feet began to move like spider legs as it made its way up against the wall. She opened a tap and a bucket and mop flew into the room. While the floor was being washed the second fridge began shaking, it looked like it was coughing.   
“Out with it!” The girl yelled at the fridge and suddenly the fridge doors opened and a stench filed the room.  
“I hate it when they leave something to rot in the fridges, the smell is hard to get out sometimes,’ Lydia said and snapped her fingers but nothing happened.   
The girl pulled her hat down and kicked her heel against the ground. Something that sounded like an alarm came speeding into the room, a trash can accompanied by a sponge and bucket of brown boiling mud water.   
“Bomb alert!” she yelled and I could sense magic suddenly all over the house.   
“Put this on,” Lydia handed me a mask and I didn’t want to put it on at first but then she pulled one out for herself and I noticed the girl wearing one too.   
“Detonation in t-minus 5 seconds!” she yelled and the pulled a white feather from her hair and threw it in the bucket and everything went black. I could feel something on me that felt like mud. I didn’t hear anyone scream or go into a panic so I kept my cool even though it felt like the mud was beginning to suck on me wherever it could and it was everywhere.   
After a couple of minutes the mud began to move and I watched as it completely removed itself from my body without even a smudge and make its way to the bucket. The whole suite house was covered in the mud and everywhere I looked I saw it move in the same direction.  
“The flower muck potion, removes any stench and replaces it with the smell of any herb or flower you added to the ingredients.   
“Amongst our flavors we favor fresh mint and lavender with a very slight hint of jasmine. After about a minute its done what it needs to and will eventually return to its point of origin.”  
The entire house smelled of mint and lavender, the jasmine smell was barely notable but I kept smelling slight hints of it. The door to the kitchen opened and two cups floated to us followed by sugar and milk.   
“I made us some tea before the muck attack, it should taste rather fresh now, you take two sugars I’m sure and milk,” Lydia gave me a cup of tea and sat back with hers.   
“Lydia, why is this family so important, who are they?”  
“Don’t you have it in you books, you should have them on record,” she said and took a sip of her tea. I took out my log book and paged to next week’s guest bookings for this suite.   
“It says here that the Oak family will be lodging here for the week. No bells are ringing in my head.”  
“Oh, of course, the Oak’s. You might know them, they have a kid your age, I think.” Lydia took another sip, she’s very pretty. She looked back at me with her hazel brown eyes.   
“They’re important because they are known for being the magical city of Eldeen’s most noble bloodline. You know what bloodlines are right?”  
“Avion magic passed down through generations,” I said and she nodded.  
“This family has an extremely strong gift and they receive the most hospitality from the midnight hotel.”  
“Why are they so special, what can they do?” I asked truly curious now.  
“I won’t tell you, Nina has to do it herself.”  
I sat back and took a sip of tea, I’m gonna go to Nina once this is over and demand she give me more details. I heard something barking and saw the sponge speeding toward the table.   
The other nine cleaner’s lined up and a few seconds later al ten of them stood in front of us.   
“Everything clean?” Lydia asked and they all nodded once. “Good, then let us leave.” We walked out of the suite and before I closed the doors Lydia threw in a small ball.  
“It’s a preserve orb, keeps the room fresh for seven days.   
“Nina also told me about another client, she said the bird is coming and that your pet is ok or something like that.”  
“Ok, thank you, I’ll take care of it immediately. Keira!”   
The girl who used that muck potion thing turned around and walked back to us. I suddenly recognized her as the girl who thought she was burning, the girl who ended up being the reason I signed a contract. She didn’t seem to recognize me.   
“I want you to go clean floor two hundred and fifty,” Lydia said and the girl gave a single nod and then turned around and left.   
“A full team only for the guests Nina regard as important.”  
“It is her hotel,” I pointed out and Lydia just smiled. The wall closest to Lydia began to crack and from the opening a pole with a bell attached to it emerged, the bell began to ring and then it stopped, returned to the crack and the crack sealed itself leaving behind no trace or indication of its existence.   
“Nina must be looking for me, we’ll talk again soon ok,” she gave me a hug and then left for the elevator. I turned around, locked the door and then went to the elevator myself. I went to the lobby and handed in my usual stuff, I went to get a soda from the bar and looked at the lounging room. The guests were having a good time, since I told Nina that there should always be some music in here people don’t seem so completely bored out of their mind whenever they hang around here. I actually do contribute, I have the right to know who they Oaks really are, as a matter of fact I'm on my way to Nina right now.   
I barged out of the elevator and marched to Nina’s office. I could feel the blood boiling in my body, well not really but it’s the idea that counts. I reached the last doors that led to her office and raised my hand to slam it open when I heard a voice that I recognized immediately as Reginald’s.  
“I cannot agree that what you’re doing is right, he’s still wet behind the ears Nina!”   
“I agree with him,” I recognized Lydia’s voice. “I don’t think it’s wise what you’re considering to do to him.”  
“That’s enough all of you. Thus far Sage is the only one who understands why I think it’s a good idea, tell them”  
“I’m agreeing with Nina.”  
“Sage, you realize what you’re expecting him to do right? This decision shouldn’t be taken lightly,” Lydia said seriously.  
“I didn't call you in to be against me in this matter, your opinions wont’ change my decision, I brought you here to find out who would help me prepare him. If he should go in unprepared then he shall die. I want him to have a chance at least,” Nina said and there was silence.  
“You’re putting a lot on the line Nina.”  
“I know, but I’m prepared to take this risk, he has allies in the guard, that’s what will make sacrificing him be all the more easier,” she said softly.  
“What about Raven, does he even know?” Lydia asked.  
“No, I don’t want him to be concerned with it yet, we still have a year until its time, he’ll be seventeen and old enough to enter. The fact that he is his own legal guardian according to the mundane law makes it all the more easier. I’ll tell him when I think he’ll be able to handle it. For now, who is ready to help me prepare him?”   
There followed silence and I couldn’t figure out what was going on inside the office.   
“Thank you, now let’s get ready for tomorrow, we have the bloodline coming in at twelve and I'm not sure when the other arrives. Lydia did you tend to that room?”  
“I sent someone to clean it, Connor wait for me, I’ll walk with you to the elevator.”  
Oh crap! I started running to the elevator only to realize that I can’t use it since everyone else probably plan on using it. I opened one of the doors to my left and ran through it for three seconds and then I realized I wasn’t running anymore but falling.   
The staircase spiraled down the wall but I ran over it and now I was plummeting to my death. This room would be the main staircase if clients were allowed to enter the doors that grant access to it. I’m not sure why it isn’t but fact of the matter is that I'm falling down a long distance.  
I tried to grab onto something but everything zoomed by so fast, why didn’t I pack in a parachute? I looked down and realized that at some point I’m going to meet the floor.   
I felt the connections in my circuit and suddenly remembered, I’m a sorcerer!   
I concentrated on my circuit and tapped into my magic. I reached out all around me, using the stairway to slow down my progression but it wouldn’t work, I was just going too fast for anything to work.   
The walls around me began to blur, everything began to blur. It looked like the distant air in front of me was burning or melting away. I suddenly felt like I was nowhere, like I didn’t exist and then the feeling disappeared and I suddenly found myself surrounded by water. I looked at the direction the bubbles were going and then started swimming. I didn’t really have enough air in my lungs to hold me long but I kept swimming up as fast as I could. I reached the surface just as my last bit of air was up and my lungs started to burn.   
I have no idea where I am, it’s a forest or something; a very color enhanced forest. I climbed out of the lake and walked to the closest tree, I looked at it, I don’t know much about trees but I'm very sure that a tree with red diamond shaped leaves isn’t normal. I heard something from behind the tree and looked to see what it was. I saw a warthog charging at the tree and backing away slowly only to charge at the tree again. When it made impact the entire tree shook and a few leaves fell down to the ground. The pig gave it another go and I looked up at the branches to see a small creature there. When the tree gave another shake the little creature fell out and I caught it. It looked like a baby cat, its entire body felt limb in my arms. The hog stomped its hooves and then launched itself at me.   
“No!” I held out my hand and the warthog froze, lifted from the ground and I threw it against a tree close by. It got up and ran away like it should. I looked back at the small animal in my arms, its fur was completely white, it opened its eyes and looked at me with two yellow eyes, after a minute they looked blue.   
I scratched its tummy with my finger and the pressed its face against mine. I took in that baby kitten scent and pressed the cat’s snout against my nose and felt it purr. I climbed up the tree and found the place where the kitten lay when the warthog attacked the tree.   
“I can’t take you with me, but I can’t try this,” I broke some branches and placed them around the area where the kitten lay to keep him from falling out again. I’d really want to take the small feline with me but I might not be able to raise it and its best to keep it in the wild. I already have Sin and Eclipse back at home so best not tempt fate. I was about to get out of the tree when I took a final look at the kitten, when I carried her in my arms she felt like a ragdoll so there’s probably something wrong with her, if I leave her here then she’ll probably die. In nature any animal born with a deficiency like hers is either killed or left behind, that’s what I remember at least. I should take her home, Sin and eclipse won’t kill her if I tell them not to, I'm sure of it. I bent down to pick her up but somehow lost my footing and I fell back. As I fell down I had that feeling again like I didn't exist, like my place on the world had just been removed and then it ended and I stood at an airport.  
I looked around me, how did I end up in Shanghai? I walked around and accidently bumped into someone.  
“Watch were you go,” a woman said and I felt stupid.  
“I’m sorry,” I said and helped her pick up the items that had fallen out of her handbag. Her passport lay open and as I picked it up I saw her picture and looked at her. She was the kind of person you expect to see on a runway. Long rich brown hair and brown eyes that were smart and intelligent instead of being depthless. Her name was something with a C but I didn’t see it.   
She frowned at me.   
“Do I know you? You’re not one of mine but something about you seems familiar,” she narrowed her eyes and I shrugged.  
“Honestly I don’t even know why I’m in Shanghai,” I said and saw a guy carrying bags walk up to us.   
“Who is this?” he asked and his shaggy blond hair fell over his eyes, he combed it out of the way and examined me with his dark brown eyes.   
“Just someone who bumped into me, you can be glad I already ate,” she said and I don’t know why but I just nodded.   
“Goodbye Simmon Ellec Raven R..,” she said one more thing after Raven, but I didn’t hear it. She nodded at her companion – probably her boyfriend – and they left me standing in the middle of nowhere in the airport. I found the closest restroom and closed myself in a cubicle. I’m screwed if I don’t find a way to get back home…how did she know my full name? I existed and then didn’t exist, I was between nowhere and nothing and everywhere and everything. My existence in the world removed until I fell on my bed back at the mansion.   
“Damn it!” I yelled out of frustration and punched my pillow. I wish I had this teleporting thing in control because it’s annoying the hell out of me.  
“Raven?”  
I jumped up like someone had just poked my ass and held out my fists for a moment and then saw who it is.  
“Robert?” I lowered my fists and sat down.  
“Good morning to you too, I see you’re prepared to kick butt early in the day.”  
“It’s what I do, haven’t seen you or Kristen in a while now, a whole week gone actually. Where have you guys been, holiday?”   
“No, we’ve been busy, I tried to find a loophole for the whole Nina situation but even the books confirm what she said, the contracts are above our reach so you’re stuck in there until we can figure something out.”  
“It’s not that bad really, give or take a few things, I’m learning magic so there’s a bonus, my life might be in danger so there’s that.”  
I explained to Robert what I heard Nina say to the five and he looked concerned.  
“So what do you think?” I asked him.  
“It sounds like she’s preparing you for a ritual or something. Its witchcraft so I don’t know what she’s planning. Just don’t piss her off or anything, we both know you have a year to live so,”  
“What? A year to live?”   
“It’s the only thing I can think of right now.”   
“I don’t want to die a year from now, I don’t even have a funeral plan yet and much less a testament. Hell I don’t even have an heir yet, let me work on that first before you say I’m going to die.”  
Sin ran into the room and pounced on me, I couldn’t hold his weight and fell down on the ground. He pressed his nose against my face and began to lick me right before he lay down with his full weight on my body.   
“Holy shit your fat,” I pushed him of me and got up slowly.   
“We haven’t been able to figure out how they come into the story.”  
I wanted to ask about spirit warriors again but Sin clawed my feet and I stumbled forward, I caught my balance but Robert grabbed my arm to keep me from falling and then it happened. 

Robert walked into the house, someone came running to him, a small kid who shared Robert’s eyes, Rob hugged the kid, and they both walked through the house. I saw a living room, there was an older kid in there, not a kid though, he looked in his twenties, or so, Robert didn’t greet him and walked to the kitchen. It’s actually a small house and it looks worn out, there’s nothing of visible value in it that I could see. A woman greeted Robert and told him to take out the garbage. The little kid asked her something but she picked up a plate with fries and carried it out of the kitchen. The younger kid looked slightly sad but smiled at Robert.

“You ok?” Robert asked with a grin and I smiled at him, something about that memory bothered me and now I understand what Sage meant with passive power. I didn't mean to use memory sight, it just happened.   
“So I have a question about teleporting,” I said hoping that he might be able to shed some light. He frowned and I continued.  
“How do you learn to control it?” I asked and he smiled.  
“Well, when you learn to use it you basically have to control it in the first place. Speaking of which I brought you this,” he took out a small box from his pocket and then handed it to me. I opened it and inside was a crystal and it began to glow right before it turned red.  
“I figured you would learn about teleporting eventually so I got you a teleporting stone, it helps you teleport.”  
“So I need this to teleport?” because I don’t have one and I’ve been able to teleport recently.  
“It’s easier with the teleporting stones, long ago we were able to do it without the stones but it’s just easier and teleportation without them is extremely hard, painful and takes a lot of magic.”  
“It is?” I asked.  
“Think of it, teleportation is a method of jumping through dimensions, your moving through a hole in space and it means your rearranging the laws of physics, of course that’s what we do as sorcerers but your still creating a vortex to take you from one location to the next. The teleporting stones reduces the magic you use and makes it less panful.   
That sounds like nothing I've been through yet. When I teleported not only did I not have a stone but I don’t think it used any magic and there was definitely not any pain involved.  
“Have you summoned your unit yet?” Robert asked suddenly very serious.  
“No I haven’t and what is it with everyone and me summoning my unit? Is there a chocolate that comes with it or something?”  
Robert laughed and the he composed himself.  
“No, nothing like that, it just, once you have a unit, everything just changes.”  
“What do you mean changes?”  
He thought about it for a second and then he raised his hands and a pistol materialized.   
“Right now you’re just feeling a basic level of magic, when you summon your unit, it’s like you’re getting a power boost. The units are designed to somehow extract all of your magical potential.”  
“Uhm, I think I get it, no wait, I don’t.”  
“Ok, you know how they say you only use ten percent of your brain.”  
“I'm sure I only use three but continue.”  
“Ok, so apply that theory to your magic. Right now you are only using a small fraction of your magic, for the typical stuff like casting spells and stuff like that. When you have a unit, it taps into more magic and enhances your abilities. A sorcerer who fight with a unit is faster, stronger, more durable and capable of using a higher class of magic than they were able to use without a unit. Instead of a breeze you create a tornado, instead of lifting a feather you pick up chairs and tables. You understand now?”   
“I know what you’re saying but I don’t think I completely understand.”  
“What’s that?” he suddenly got up looking concerned, I practically jumped up and looked in the same direction.  
“What wrong, is it a free ice cream vendor?” I heard something behind my ear and instinctively turned around and looked into the barrel of Robert’s unit.  
“Defend yourself,” he said but before he could do anything I grabbed his hand and pulled him down to have my leg thrown over his arm and pulled him down to the ground and pulled the gun out of his hand and I have to say, the thing weighs a ton.  
“Ok, you win, I give up!” he said and laughed. I let him go and we both stood up after he picked up his heavy gun like it weighed nothing, note to self: Don’t arm wrestle him.  
“What the hell were you trying to do man?”   
“I’m sorry about that, I thought I could force you to summon your unit, normally a situation like that would have been enough, but it looks like your body responds to danger slightly differently,” he said and shook his head.  
It’s because of Grans training, she made me train so hard that I can respond to danger like that.   
…  
Great, my Gran’s training is the reason I can’t summon a unit, what a bitch move.   
“How did you summon your unit?” I asked him.  
“It’s funny actually, my mom left me with my brother, he went outside while there was a pot of boiling hot water on the stove, and you know how young kids can be. I accidently pulled the pot down and the boiling water came down and would have burned me, I summoned my unit and shot the water into vapor. When my parents came home I was shooting holes in the walls just having a great time, it took some convincing to make me stop,” he chuckled but I found no humor in the story.  
“That’s a bad story, if it wasn’t for you summoning a unit, if you weren’t magical, that hot water would have fallen on you,” I said and he just shook his head.   
“I don’t think too much about it. It’s a good thing, I summoned my unit at a good age, so no harm no foul. Besides, my little brother was there too, rather it be me than him,” he said and I remembered the memory of the little kid who had the same eyes as Robert.   
I didn’t hassle him any further. I would be relatively livid if that would have happened to me. Though I suppose magical families deal with things differently, which reminds me.  
“Robert, what’s all this I’m hearing about noble bloodlines in a place called Eldeen?”  
He stopped smiling and tilted his head slightly.   
“You know about bloodlines?”  
“Well, I am friends with Jason, it stands to reason that he would tell me something like his being one of the three noble bloodlines, it is three right?”   
Robert nodded and then took a breath.  
“First of all, Eldeen is the magical city we serve. It’s not just some place,” he said and I made a mental note. “Secondly, of all the bloodlines there are only three that Eldeen take pride in. Jason holds the name of one of the three, his is the third noblest bloodline.”  
“What about the other two?” I asked.  
“I’m not at liberty to talk about it.”  
“Yeah, you’re a captain or something, what’s that about?”   
He shook his head and then rubbed his eyes and sighed.  
“Eldeen has three main positions of power, third is the captains, second the lieutenants and the highest ranking is the high council. Then again you could also say that there are five, beneath the captains are the soldiers or trainees and above the high council is the governor who holds the greatest level of authority. Everyone beneath the high council and the governor are regarded as members of the guard. We are above police authority even though we have the same purpose which is to keep the city of Eldeen safe. The difference is that the police force deals with internal matters of the city where the guard are responsible for any external matters like if someone broke into the city it is our responsibility to locate them and apprehend them. We don’t deal with crimes and theft, we deal with anything that might be a possible threat to the city.”  
“Then what does the high council do?”  
“They mainly deal with anyone apprehended, they are also responsible for trial and tribulation, there are nine members of the high council, ten if you include the governor.”  
“What does the governor do?”   
Robert laughed and held out his hands.  
“Relax ok, there’s more than enough time to get through all the details,” he said and I shook my head.  
“Remember, Nina wants to sacrifice me in a year’s time and it doesn’t look like anybody can do anything about it so tell me,” I demanded and Robert smiled.   
“The high council and the governor are responsible for keeping bonds with other magical communities. Since he’s an important figure in Eldeen the governor meets with other important figures and they discuss matters of importance such as the continuation of truces and such. He basically keeps good favor from other communities to ensure that war doesn’t erupt or something like that.”  
“Sounds boring as hell,” I commented and Robert just smiled.  
“Not everyone can be an apprentice to a very luxurious hotel with a witch as a boss.”  
“I still don’t see why Nina is regarded as such a bad person, I mean besides the whole sacrificing me part, she’s been very nice…ish.”  
“The thing is the magic she practices, I only know her through the minds of others and the single encounter I’ve had with her where she forced me out of the building.”  
“Witchcraft and sorcery, I’m still not sure about the difference. Focus Robert.”  
He crossed his arms and looked deep in thought. As he opened his mouth to start speaking his brows were narrowed together.  
“Witchcraft differs from sorcery mainly because it makes use of – and this is part theory – tapping into nature but that’s not all. Not anybody can be a witch or wizard for that matter,” he continued but I interrupted him.   
“I thought warlocks are the male version of a witch.”  
“No, a male witch; is still a witch,” he corrected. “Warlocks are guys whose magical practices leave visible marks, in truth. The practice of witchcraft requires a sense of the magic, sorcery can easily be learned and then understood at a later stage but if you don’t have that inborn ability to tap into nature or the aptitude for witchcraft then you can’t be a true practitioner of the craft. Most witches were forced into hiding during the coup and that branch of magic began to wither away as sorcerers came into power. Nowadays witches are feared and it is part in truth because of the witches of old. Those witches, they practiced certain magic that gave them extreme power, the kind of magic that we as sorcerers cannot access, namely magic brought forth by human sacrifice. Black magic through witchcraft is amongst the foulest forms of dark magic there is. I’m not saying that sorcerers are pure beings, we do have magic out there that’s dangerous but only a witch can tap into power granted by human sacrifice where sorcerers have to tap into different energy that require other methods to obtain.”  
“Ok, got it, human sacrifice is bad,” I said finally and Robert pointed his gun at the glass coffee table and it lifted from the ground.  
“It’s a lot to take in, it’s hard for me to really explain it all, eventually you learn this stuff and figure it out by yourself, even now after seventeen years I’m still not completely sure why sorcery and witchcraft aren’t just classified under a single term. It’s a very fine line really. Like I said, once you start casting spells and stuff you might have a better idea.”   
Mental note time.   
“Robert,” I started remembering the mental note. “I don’t have a spell book, Nina said that it might be a good idea for me to get one, I was wondering whether you would take me to get one since I have no idea where to look for one.”  
He frowned and the turned his head sideways like he was trying to hear something.  
“That’s weird,” he said after a minute.  
“What’s going on? Did Sin leave a dump on my rug?”   
“No, I only now realize that there’s something strange about your thoughts,”  
“Never mind everything wrong with that sentence,” I retorted and he didn’t react.  
“I only just realized, I’m not really picking up any of your thoughts, I thought maybe I was subconsciously not reading your mind but a rogue thought would have popped through. Now that I’m actually trying I’m not getting anything, that’s strange.” He looked like he was about to go into deep thinking mode and I had to stop him.  
“So will you take me?”   
“Oh,” he snapped out of that trance like look. “Ok sure, I’ll show you how to use the teleporting stone.”  
He got up and stood next to me, I took out the red stone from my pocket and held it out.   
“Ok, so I’m assuming you have some circuit control by now right?” he asked and the look on my face must have given me away.  
“Ok, so first you need to tap magic into the stone to start it up, like charging a battery before it works. Just concentrate your magic into the stone.”  
I channeled my circuit and tapped energy into the stone, it began to glow.  
“Well done, ok, at some point the stone won’t take any more magic, that’s when it’s ready to be activated. You can only teleport to a place you’ve been before, that’s one of the limits. Ok, so you need to think of a place once the stone is fully charged and then you let the magic take you, you’ll understand in a moment.”  
I felt the magic from the stone, it wouldn’t take anymore magic but I’m sure I can still tap magic into it, it almost felt like the stone was trying to push the magic back.”  
“Try teleporting somewhere, in the house preferably, just think of the place and remember what if felt like to be there and the stone will take care of all the rest.  
I concentrated on the kitchen, not sure why, maybe it’s cause I want some coffee or something but that’s what I concentrated on. I stopped pushing magic and suddenly all the magic in the stone rushed through me spread out all through my body and then it felt like I was being pulled into the stone. The feeling is truly awful, like the times I go with Sage, it feels like I'm being squashed from all sides and the air from my lungs gets pushed out.   
It stopped and I found myself in the kitchen.   
“Well done,” Robert said walking into the kitchen and patted me on the back. “Not many newbies manage to teleport so easily on their first attempt. Let’s get going to Eldeen then,” he took me by the shoulder.  
“We should go to the midnight first, I have to get something from Nina,” I said and his shoulders sagged.   
“Really?” he asked and I nodded and suddenly got the breath yanked out of me again and I was being squashed from all sides.   
I ran up to Nina’s office and she frowned at me.   
“You told me to get something before we get a book?” I said and she nodded.   
“This,” she handed me a weird eagle thing that looked like a stamp or something.   
“The hell is this?” I asked and she sat down again.   
“That is my solid silver monogram seal, use that when you make a purchase, it has no financial limit,” she said and went back to her paperwork.   
“I’m surprised that it isn’t gold,” I said and she smiled.  
“I’m not that sanctimonious and self-righteous to go around with a gold seal,” she said.  
“No, that’s what all the bling is for,” I said and she stopped writing and looked up at me.   
“Exactly,” she continued. “Now if you don’t mind Mr. Raven, I have things to do,” she said calmly and I nodded.  
“Thanks for the cash I guess,” I said and walked.   
“Return it to me when you’re finished,” she added right before I closed the doors.  
“Will do,” I said and left. I met Robert downstairs and he took my shoulder and the agony of their teleportation began.   
When it ended I didn’t recognize where we were. The buildings were all weird, some were round and others looked like shapes, the one closest to us looked like a big broom.   
“This is Eldeen,” Robert said and I noticed a piece of paper fly above us, it looked like mail and then I saw the purple illumination all around me.  
“This city is surrounded by purple gemstones called fluorite for protection.”  
“Fluorite,” I said and looked around seeing where they had placed their gemstones around, I didn't think that adding so many small stones around an area would change the light of that area.  
“Nobody really considered using them, until a witch realized that you could tap magic into the stones and they wouldn’t crack under pressure. So we use them to generate a collective barrier around the city. You can’t get in without a permit, otherwise your repelled by the force of the collective energy of the stones. It’s truly brilliant.”  
“How did I get in here?”  
“I authorized your entry to the city, just like I made a plan to get you a teleporting stone, normally there’s a bid ordeal to get a stone in the first place,” he said nonchalantly and continued walking.  
I noticed the change in the air, a cool breeze blew against my face and the air turned a bright orange; the sun was setting.   
A woman came walking toward us, she held out her hands and begged for assistance. Robert took out some silver out of his pocket and handed it to her, her eyes watered and then she looked behind us.  
“Robert,” I sensed magic and turned around. Someone came running toward us, he held a club in his hand and raised it, a few more men came out of corners in the street, each looked in a worse condition than the last though they were all armed.   
A sudden series of waves passed me and every single one of them fell to the ground. I turned around and saw Robert sending his gun back to wherever it is he sends it after use.  
“It’s called non-existence, where the units dwell until we summon them,”  
“How did you…oh mind reader, never mind.”  
“I can steal hear some of your thoughts though all of it is becoming blurry, I’m only getting little bits now. At this rate I won’t be able to hear anything by tomorrow.”  
“What just happened back there?”   
“The poor, sometimes kindness goes by them.”  
“You must have known, heard her thoughts, that’s why you were prepared,” I realized and he didn’t respond, he just continued forward.   
I continued to follow him but I kept getting glances from people around the street who looked in no better condition that the ones who tried to attack us earlier. I could see them starting to come forward but when they got a look at Robert they retreated almost immediately. I looked at his clothes, the cloak he had on had an emblem of a sword surrounded with golden leaves, beneath it I noticed five golden leaves. He stopped us by a weird building that looked like it was breathing.  
“Let’s try this place for a second.” He pushed me inside and glanced around. We were surrounded by boxes. I took a single step forward and a huge cloud of dust erupted around my feet and I made it worse by trying to wave it away.   
“Get a vacuum or something, holy crap I’m dying here it’s like I'm surrounded by a cloud of choking mist that’s not wet!”   
“Ok Raven, hold on for a second.” I sensed magic and all the dust dispersed.   
“Welcome to the Sparkle wands, where business has been slow since nobody uses wands anymore!” a man said and held out his hands in greeting. His hair was white as snow, not grey, he wore big round glasses and had a skinny face, his jaw looked sharp and he was tall and extremely thin, my initial thought is creepy thin man.  
“Were looking for wands,” Robert said suddenly and the man tilted his head slightly.  
“well you’ve come to the right place, as it turns out I haven’t sold a wand in three years, though the owner is dead but that’s beside the point, so who wants a wand?” he asked and stared at us like a creepy thin man.   
“It’s for him,” Robert pushed me forward and I almost stumbled. Creepy thin man looked at me and grinned widely.  
“What’s your name?’ he asked me.  
“Raven, you?”  
“They call me Stein, you want a wand?”  
“I guess, since I’m here.”  
He laughed extremely loud and uncontrollably. He collected himself and then pulled something out of his sleeve.  
“Wands are different from units, they have their own laws and demands, with modern times very few can still use wands, perhaps you are one of us,” he pointed a stick at me and everything began to shake, all the boxes began flying around us, Stein laughed loud, he crabbed a box and opened it, he took the wand inside and held it against his face like it was priceless.  
“When were you born, what month, which star sign?”  
“Uh, March, fifteen years ago, I think I’m Pisces, I never really cared for that kind of stuff.”  
“Ah, the fishes, this one won’t do.” He let the wand go and it hovered away into a box and placed itself on a shelf. Stein raise his hand and made weird movements with his fingers, he looked at the floating boxes while talking to himself.   
“There you are!” he suddenly exclaimed and pointed his wand at a box at the other side of the room.   
“Come here!” he took a wand out of the box and held it out to me.  
“Unicorn and Elf, very elegant, perfectly balanced, try it.”  
I reluctantly took the wand from him, I feel a little cheated that I get stuck with a wand and not a weapon. I held the stick and it felt like it weighed a ton, what is it with units that they look so easy to handle yet feel so damn heavy? The wand felt foreign in my hand, like it shouldn’t be there. I raised the stick and it sent blue sparks at Stein that missed him by mere inches and it stung me!   
“How do you like that? Not one of them appeased your circuit. I see you might be a challenge. Let’s try something with a bit more backbone. Black oak with pixie hair, it should be about right.”   
He took a box above his head and handed me the wand inside. I took it and all the boxes began attacking us, I dropped the wand and peace returned.   
Stein laughed out loud like he was having the time of his life, I think he’s not right in the head.  
He stopped right in front of me and then lowered himself to my height until his grey eyes looked into mine.   
“Not good, not mischievous or grounded. I've never had to go in sets of three before.”  
His expression suddenly changed from creepy thin man to scary. He flicked his wand and a box flew out of a shelf far away, he took the box and then peered at me through his glasses. Without a word he handed me the box and I took out the wand inside. It felt lighter than all of the others, not like it would take my hand of.   
“How does it feel?” he asked like he knew the weight issue I had with the wands thus far.  
“It’s ok, it feels mobile. I like this one.” I raised the wand and looked at the boxes, a word popped into my head. “Positia.”  
All the boxes began organizing themselves back onto the shelves. I stood up straight and looked at the wand, so I’m a wand user, I guess its ok.”  
“What’s it made of?” I asked and Stein grinned widely from ear to ear.   
“White oak, with a hint of dead dragon scale and dragon string taken from a living dragon.”  
Robert took a sudden breath behind me and I turned to him and scowled.  
“Dragon heart string, it’s a component found in a dragon heart, according to theory it’s what dragons use to channel the magic of the earth and also where their life energy lies.”  
“Ok, so?”   
“The only way to acquire it is to remove it from the heart.”  
Taken from a living dragon.  
I looked at the wand again, in my hand I held a life. A dragon was killed for this wand and I know for a fact that this wand serves me.  
“I've never given out a dragon heart string wand before, not one taken from a living dragon.”  
“That’s enough Stein, let’s finish this transaction and be on our way,” Robert said hastily and Stein nodded with that creepy thin man grin of his.   
“One piece of gold,” stein said and held out his hand.  
“What! For a wand? Units shouldn’t be that expensive!” Robert said outraged.  
“Times are hard and if you remember there was a time that wands were units, gold or nothing, make your decision.” Stein took the wand from my hands but pulled back immediately. He glared at me while blowing on his hands.   
“What?” I asked and looked from one to the other.   
“You burned me, with your skin,”  
“I felt the pain when he did, how did you do that?” Robert asked and I noticed he was holding his hand too. He must have mentally linked with Stein when he got burned.  
“I don’t know, I didn’t try to do anything.”  
“It’s unimportant, my payment now!” Stein suddenly said and I heard Robert swear behind me.   
“I got this,” I said and took from my pocket Nina’s seal.  
“What is that?” Robert asked.  
“This is Nina’s seal, apparently I can buy stuff with this, or am I wrong?” I asked Stein but he began to laugh hysterically.   
“The seal of Nina, never thought I’d live to see the day.”  
I used the seal to pay for the wand and put it back in my pocket. When I stamped the receipt I felt magic from the seal.   
“This is a bit of a setback, I really thought you would summon a war unit, this a little counterproductive.”  
As we turned to leave Stein suddenly appeared in front of us, his grin unearthed me, he pointed his wand against my face and I kept my eyes on his and didn’t look away.   
“I wouldn’t use that wand for too long if you want to keep it that is,” he said and fixed his eyes on my wand.  
“Why do you say that?” Robert asked and Stein whirled around and I don’t know how he did it but he managed to pull Roberts feet from under him.  
“Are you mad!” Robert yelled and stein laughed.  
“Not quite yet, I’m getting there,” he turned back to me. “I can tell from the reaction of your first wand, by the end of this week, if you still continue to use this one, it will become damaged and will no longer work. His circuit is growing and will exceed the wand capabilities.”  
“Then why did you sell it to us!”  
“The wand fits him for some reason, therefore he must have it, they told me that he must have the wand now, otherwise it would be too late. “  
“Who told you?” Robert asked and I sensed some urgency in his voice.  
“The wands of course,” he said and put his away, turned around and walked out of sight.   
Robert got up slowly but I could see something was wrong.  
“He must really be going mad, I've rarely encountered someone whose mind and speech aren’t linked to the same thought. Let’s get out of here.”  
We walked but my mind lingered on Stein.   
“That’s guy is a creep. Truly mental but creepy nonetheless.”  
We entered a book shop and I paused for a second. You’d think that there would be some order in a book shop of all places but that’s the last word I feel like using. Books were floating around in the air, people were yelling and screaming, I saw two girls rolling on the floor as they fought for a book.  
“Oh, celebrities can bring out the worst in people,” Robert commented and he walked by them.   
“Shouldn’t we try to break them apart?” I asked when they began pulling each other on the hair.   
“I wouldn’t risk it, I think we should actually try to hurry it along before they recall that they can use magic.”  
Robert led the way through the aisles and I followed.  
“Well since you have Nina’s seal I can get you books that are slightly more expensive, that is how it works right, you can buy anything with her seal?” he looked at me and I just nodded.   
“So these are basic magical spells, these are more advanced but your probably not there yet. Take it anyway.” He used me as a packing mule and continued to add more books, I stopped him and called him back to get a book he skipped.  
“Witchcraft of the century?” he asked me with raised eyebrows.   
“Don’t judge me, it’s for Nina. What’s that book?” I asked seeing the last one had no cover or anything and looked paper thin.   
“It’s your personal spell book. You write all the spells you want into it to give yourself quick access to them.”  
“Ok, great.” I said and followed him. The pile I had to carry reached over my head by the time we stood in the line to pay. My arms felt the strain and then I decided, screw it. I concentrated on my magic and used raw magic to keep the books steady. I let them go and rubbed my wrists.   
“I see your getting better control over your magic,” Robert said when he noticed the floating pile of books next to him.   
The entire shop shook once and a series of books suddenly exploded into pages upon pages of confetti.   
“Those girls are getting serious now,” Robert whispered.   
Another book burst into pieces next to me. Some of the customers in the line put their books down and departed the shop.   
“Merlin be with me,” a woman said and marched to the two girls on the ground. She flicked a wand at the two of them and the book they fought over suddenly zoomed into the woman’s hands, she turned to us and walked back without anther word.   
We patiently waited to get to the front of the line, I saw a book on disc magic and made it hover to us and added it to the heap.  
As we left I tried not to think about the look the man behind the counter gave me when he saw the books on witchcraft and disc magic and don’t get me started on the look he gave when I paid with the seal.   
“You want to be a disc user?” Robert asked as we walked.  
“Yeah, I think so,”  
“You’ll have to learn the basics of sorcery to get there though.”  
“Is it hard, using magic?”  
He chuckled but not crazily like Stein had.   
“Not really, it depends on the class of magic you’re using, if you know the words for the spell then you can use it. Like this,” he pointed his gun at the ground and without a seconds hesitation he said “fiera.”  
A burst of flames emitted from his gun barrel and hit the ground.   
“That’s a basic spell, a simple elemental fire spell. There are bigger ones but that’s more or less how you cast spells.   
I took out the wand from my pocket and pointed it at the ground.  
“Fiera,” I said and felt all the connections in my circuit link and a burst of fire erupted from the tip of the wand. It spread fast and Robert reacted immediately.  
“Aquadamanti!” he yelled out and water spread over my fire trail.   
“I just cast my first spell,” I said and a sense of pride filled me up.   
“You sure did, let’s get you home then we can talk about spells and casting them.”  
We first had to stop at the hotel to return the seal and Nina took note of Robert.  
“I see he’s inside my building again, after I banned him.” She pointed her finger at Robert and I moved in between the two of them.   
“He’s helping me with my magic, it will only be a bad business move to kill him, think about it.” I said immediately hoping to change her mind about doing whatever she was about to do.  
She rubbed the fine jewelry in her ear, thinking until she nodded and then pulled a rope.   
“I suggest you two go to the top level of the elevator, you’ll find it a more suitable room for training. I’ll have someone there with refreshments soon.”  
I've never been in the top level before, I know Nina’s level is the second highest and that’s all.   
The doors of the elevator opened at the top level and we as walked inside, we found ourselves in the center of a huge empty stadium.   
“This is amazing,” Robert said and walked ahead of me. I looked back at the elevator and saw it sinking into the ground, the grass closed over the hole left behind by the elevator and I watched until it was gone.   
“How do we bring it back again?” Robert asked and I knew to lift my amulet in response and force the elevator to come back up instantly.   
We sat there for two hours, we went over spells and I managed to memorize each and every one of them. I find it magic a little scary. It only takes one word, all the power that a simple word holds. With a simple slip of the tongue I can set someone on flames.   
“Why do you look so concerned?”  
“I'm just thinking what I’d do if I wake up and my house is on fire because I was sleep talking?”  
“You can’t use spells unconsciously. Raw magic is the bigger problem, it’s seated in the conscious and unconscious part of our mind, but it’s not meant to be so great once you become dependent of a unit. So no concerns there.   
“Fiera!” I pointed the wand at the far end of the stadium. If I add a little bit of magic then I can generate a bigger ball of fire.   
“You really like the fire magic don’t you, it’s what you use the most.”  
“I find it easier, when my circuit links then I feel stronger and I like it.”  
“What do you mean when your circuit links?” Robert asked with a very notable frown.  
“You know, my circuit feels normal and then it links throughout my body and I feel stronger, I actually feel like I can do things if I couldn’t before.”  
“I've heard of that somewhere before, though it isn’t something I experience.”  
“So you’re saying it’s not normal?”   
He shook his head and that single mental sigh in my mind came and went.   
I looked at the stadium and jumped up.  
“Everything ok?” Robert asked but I couldn’t answer, there was blood on the ground, the stadium was packed with people, all of them cheering out loud, I saw a huge collection of people on the ground either fighting or dead. A man with a sword ran toward me and he leaped in the air bringing the sword down to slash me but he never touched me, it all faded away and I watched as the blood turned green and everything looked like it did before.   
“Everything is fine, I’m just a little tired,” I said and blinked, no blood again. I should say something about this, if only I knew the limits of strange in magic. I might be gifted with some ability but what exactly is it then? The power to see freaky shit just doesn’t sound cool.   
“Let’s quit for the day ok?”   
“Where is Kristen?” I asked and he lay on his back, since I just saw blood there I have no intention of doing so myself.   
“Her mother demanded to have a day with her. Since we started dating we rarely spend time apart in our free time.”   
I wonder if being a captain of the guard takes a lot of time. He still manages to make time for his girlfriend, school and his family. Since I found out I’m a sorcerer I haven’t even been able to call Will. I can’t call him, I won’t know what to say to him.   
“I’m still worried about the whole comment you made about your circuit linking. I’m trying to remember where I've heard that phrase before.” He seemed genuinely concerned about it, like not knowing bothered him.   
“I’m not sorry to interrupt your lesson, but I need Raven now.” Nina said out of nowhere. We both looked around and saw a mahogany eagle head on the grass detached from anybody. Its eyes glowed green, we both moved a little closer.  
“Stop starring, Raven, I need you to come to the office immediately and as for the captain, you know the way out.   
We walked to where the elevator would appear. I looked up.  
“Everything ok?” Robert asked.  
“Something is coming,” I said and felt the air.   
“What do you mean?” he asked and I didn’t regard him.   
“We better be ready when it hits,” I took the amulet out and the elevator came up, we both stepped inside, Robert didn’t say anything. I suddenly sensed a great mass of magic in the elevator with us, I think Robert sensed it too, I turned to him to say something.  
…  
“So,” Nina, said out of nowhere and I snapped out of my daze, I don’t even remember saying goodbye to Robert, I don’t even remember getting out of the elevator. That’s really weird.   
She whirled around after looking out of her ground to ceiling length window.   
“Explain this to me!” she held out a piece of paper and I walked closer to examine it.   
“You said I could use the seal to buy stuff with,” I defended.  
“I meant books Mr. Raven; you paid one gold piece for a wand, what is that all about?”   
“Turns out my unit is a wand, what can I say,” I shrugged and she gave me a sidelong glance.  
“Don’t get smart with me,” she fumed.  
“I’m a straight A student, it’s kind of hard not to be smart.”  
“When you took this job,” she started.  
“That you forced me into, shall we go over it again witch?’ I said knowing she’d get mad at how I said witch.  
“Don’t you dare take that tone with me boy,” she pointed her finger at me with menacing threat in her eyes.   
“Don’t you dare threaten me, do something, I don’t respond well to threats.”  
She whirled her finger and I moved sideways and felt the magic barely graze me. She pulled her hand back towards herself and at first I didn’t understand the gesture but looked behind me and saw hands reaching out of the walls to grab me. I took out my wand and yelled out the fire spell. The hands caught flame but I realized my mistake a second too late, I had turned my back on Nina. She pulled me back with magic and my arms and legs were suddenly bound with chains.   
“You’re a bitch,” I say and I can see her chest heaving in anger.  
“I know I am,” she said catching me off guard, nobody admits to being a bitch when they’re that high up the food chain. “Something is bothering you I can see it.”  
“Earlier today Robert and I were attacked by some poor people, it keeps nagging in my head.”  
I see, you’re not use to the magical poverty yet,”  
I looked up at Nina, she sat down and began filing her blood red nails.  
“You’re poverty is different in the human sector of the world. In magic, sorcerers who are poor are normally ill tempered, depressed, miserable, barely happy and are very dangerous.”  
“That sounds like a normal situation.”  
“Probably but humans who are poor don’t have the ability to influence things around them. The fluorite around the city is used to keep the city from falling grip to the poor’s untamed magic.”  
“I don’t see why they don’t just find a job in the world,”  
“It’s not that easy, most of them no longer have the will to keep a grip on their powers. As a result their powers have grown unstable and their minds unhinged. They cannot be risked in the human world where they might accidently expose magic to the humans. If they work in the magical side, they will cause damage or death in whatever they do.”  
“Then why isn’t something being done to fix it, jobs and opportunities.” I demanded, I felt my circuit react to my anger, it wasn’t connecting, it was something else, something was building up inside me. It made me feel slightly heavy.  
“I do not know, I've noticed with the progression of time fewer jobs are available, more and more families are struggling to survive in the magical community, the lucky ones manage to survive in the human world but so many were raised solely by magic and its laws that it’s hard for them adapt to a world without it.”  
“What about the rich, are they doing anything about it?” I asked and felt a sensation in me grow faster, it slowly reached out to my finger tips and moved down my legs to reach my toes.   
“In the community there is only rich and poor, no middleclass. Most of those in high positions do not bother with those beneath them.”  
I noticed how she referred to the rich as them.  
“What are you doing about it?”   
She slammed a book shut and practically jumped out of her seat.   
“Look around you Mr. Raven! I employ over a thousand staff, most of them would be on the street if not for me. I may not be the nicest woman in all of the magical community but I am not sitting back and avoiding the problem. I’m probably the only person really doing anything about it and yet suffer the most criticism.”  
I looked at Nina in a different light now, she really isn’t that bad a person if I think about it.  
The feeling running through my body began to fade and I rubbed my eyes.   
“Now about that ridiculous wand, Mr. Raven” Nina said.  
It felt like I was looking at Nina from the far side of a tunnel. I walked to her, my mind knew to give the order but it didn’t feel like I was telling it to walk to her. I pulled out the wand and it felt like it was not me, like I wasn’t in charge but I was, I was making my body do what it was doing.   
“Take this wand, just keep it with you, I don’t need it right now.”  
“What are you talking about” she said and gave me a scrutinizing glare.   
“I think you should keep it with you Nina,” I looked to my sides to see my hands still there, it felt like I had moved them.   
“Very well, I’ll put it in the vault with my contracts. Give it to me.”  
I handed her the wand and saw it disappear into her sleeve.  
“I’ll be back tomorrow, I‘m exhausted from all the training today.” The words came out of my mouth, my mind meant to say it, but there was some kind of protest, like nothing I was saying was true but I don’t understand how that works.  
I left the midnight hotel and walked to the bridge, I teleported and when I stood in my living room I took out my phone and entered Williams number.   
“Hey Raven. Thanks for replying right?”   
“I’m sorry. It has been a busy week and all that.”  
“What ever happened to your situation?” he asked.  
“I’ll explain it to you some other time.” I meant to say it, but I know it isn’t going to happen, I’ll just always have to postpone telling him the truth.  
“Well, your phone call is at a bad time, were going to my brothers, I’ll call you some other time and see if you answer.”  
I put the phone on the table and a sudden exhaustion befell me. I barely managed to make it to the bed before everything went dark and I was victim of my dreams..

It is time, I am prepared to share with you child.

“Your honor, I have presented the jury with more than enough evidence to prove that my client is true to his word to maintain life held in his hand. He has proven himself more than worthy of the power.”  
“Perhaps,” this voice over lapsed with countless others and the shadow the voice came from regarded me slowly. “There will come a time, we shall put him through the ultimate test, should he fail, all will continue. If he succeeds then we shall yield.”

**Author's Note:**

> there is still a couple of chapters i havent posted. just want to see if these few will at least be bothered to be noticed.


End file.
